Government urged to assist cross-border marriages

中國日報香港版
H01 | Metro | By ANDREA DENG 2011-06-01

Government urged to assist cross-border marriages

By ANDREA DENGCHINA DAILY

Three non-governmentalgroups have urged the governmentto update its policyregarding cross-border relationshipsand marriages.

A survey, co-conductedby the Hong Kong Instituteof Education, RoundtableCommunity and PowersoftConsultancy Limited, showedthat 47 percent of Hong Kongpeople aged 26-30 are open torelationships with people fromthe mainland.

Forty percent say they arewilling to marry someone fromacross the border.

“We understand the viewsof young Hong Kong peopletowards the mainland peopleare changing, presumablyrelating to their more frequentconnection with the mainlandpeople. It is hence necessary forthe SAR government to workon demographic policies andbrace for the trend,” JoshuaMok Ka-ho, dean of the Facultyof Arts and Sciences of theHong Kong Institute of Education,said on Tuesday.

The survey of 724 HongKong people aged 16-35showed the rights of abode areranked as the first concern.

Next came concerns abouthousing issues, problems ofadapting for mainland spouseand education of children.

Those issues are the areasupon which the Hong Konggovernment should focus whenit sets out to establish policies todeal with the trend, Mok said.

The daily quota for One-WayPermits, which allow mainlandresidents to stay in the city asnon-permanent residents withthe right to work, is 150.

Thirty are assigned to peoplewho have been separated fromtheir Hong Kong spouses formore than 10 years.

“The demand for One-WayPermits has shown signs ofdecline, because some mainlandspouses simply chooseTwo-way Permits. That waythey can stay in Hong Kongalmost every day provided theyrenew their visa. But they’re notallowed to work with Two-WayPermits,” explained Sasa Liang,director of development of theInternational Social ServiceHong Kong Branch, a groupwhich off ers consulting servicesto people involved in cross-borderrelationships.

According to the Census andStatistics Department, there arearound 20,000 cross-bordermarriage registrations in HongKong every year. Th e numberdoes not include those who areregistered on the mainland.

Liang, a social worker whohas been helping cross-bordercouples for more than a decade,attributed the long-term separationof cross-border couplesas the major factor leading tothe high divorce rate.

“Of course the best way is tolet the mainland spouses stay inHong Kong as soon as possible.But I’ve dealt with many cases inwhich the couples were alreadydivorced before the mainlandspouse could come to HongKong,” said Liang.

“Therefore I suggest theSAR government offer moremarriage consultancy servicesto these cross-border couples,so that their marriages can bemaintained,” Liang added.

She also suggested thegovernment consider the tensof thousands of Hong Kongcitizens who work on the mainlandand may marry mainlandpeople, who also will needmarriage consultancy servicesas they travel back and forth.


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