Migrants Defy Order to Leave Hong Kong

Chinese migrants restated their defiance of Hong Kong's decision to repatriate them yesterday when all but one of the first batch of 130 scheduled for forcible deportation refused to give themselves up.

Hundreds of angry demonstrators also marched to Hong Kong's court of final appeal, protesting at the government's decision to forcibly deport 4,300 migrants who refused to leave voluntarily before the deadline of April 1 imposed after they lost a bitterly fought court case earlier this year.

The Hong Kong immigration department has insisted that all those who overstayed will be sent back eventually "in batches in an orderly fashion".

The sole acquiescent migrant - who, like the others, has a family in the territory - surrendered and was promptly whisked back to the mainland.

China has declared an amnesty from prosecution for leaving the country illegally - but it only applies to those who returned before April 1.

Wen Rongfang, a Chinese immigration official, said last month that those who remained in Hong Kong would be like "rats... [who] hide and dare not come out".

The controversy began three years ago with a u-turn by the Hong Kong court of final appeal after an initial ruling that migrants with at least one parent in the territory could claim "the right of abode".

The court reversed the decision after the government - claiming that it would open the way for a flood of migrants - sought a re-interpretation of the law from Beijing.

Only about 400 of the 4,700 abode seekers whose applications were turned down in January have returned.