Immigration Detention
Dear Immigration Department,
Dear Immigration Department,
Please can you confirm the following, for each 12 month period from 2017 to 2019, inclusively (the 'Relevant Period') ; as follows:
(i). The no. of individuals detained under immigration powers during the relevant period;
(ii). The average duration of the periods individuals were held within immigration detention, (i.e. in days), during the relevant period;
(iii). The longest single period of continuous immigration detention;
(iv) The no. of those individuals as at (i)., who prior to their detention had made claims within the USM; (and of those, the no. of those individuals whose claims were ongoing during that period);
(v) The no. of those individuals as at (ii), who during the period of their detention, lodged/submitted claims within the USM.
Yours faithfully,
Isaac Shaffer
Our ref. : ImmD RM/6-5/10/2020/112 (R)
Dear Mr Shaffer,
Our department received your application for access to information on 6
March 2020. We hereby provide you the following information.
Item (i)
The available detention statistics are as follows:
Year 2017 Year 2018 Year 2019
10,948 11,510 10,053
The above statistics of Year 2017 and 2018 are available at
[1]https://www.immd.gov.hk/publications/a_r...
Item (ii)-(iii)
The Immigration Department does not maintain statistics on the duration of
the periods in which individuals were held under immigration detention.
Item (iv)-(v)
The Immigration Department does not maintain statistics on the status of
the detention concerned in relation to the lodging of claims.
I hope you will find the above information of use.
Regards,
SUM Henry Ka-Hing
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [2]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
Dear Immigration Department,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Immigration Department's handling of my FOI request 'Immigration Detention'.
I have been informed that no data is retained in response to areas of my request.
These omissions relate to significant issues for which data ought reasonably to be either obtainable , or otherwise be recorded.
This data has been previously requested (in similar prior requests) and its absence previously complained about. It is evidently of public interest as it relates to the protection of basic constitutional rights, and significant public expenditure.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/immigra...
Yours faithfully,
Isaac Shaffer
Our ref. : ImmD RM/6-5/10/2020/112(R)
Dear Mr Shaffer,
Our deparment has received your application for internal review of the
access to information application (Ref: ImmD RM/6-5/10/2020/112(R)) on 7th
April 2020. Your application is now under processing.
As time is required for gather information from various parties, we would
revert to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your kind attention.
Regards,
SUM Henry Ka-hing
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [1]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
Our ref: ImmD RM/6-5/10/2020/112 (R)
Dear Mr Shaffer,
I refer to your application for internal review of the access to
information application (ref: ImmD RM/6-5/10/2020/112(R)) received on 7
April 2020. Further to our interim replies on 16 April 2020, your request
for a review has been considered in accordance with the Code on Access to
Information (“the Code”) and I am authorized to give you a substantive
reply as follows.
Item (i)
The detention statistics released to you on 14 March 2020 would be
maintained.
Item (ii) – (v)
The Immigration Department does not maintain the requested statistics and
our last reply on these items is maintained.
You may wish to note that the Department, under paragraph 1.14 of the
Code, is not obliged to create a record which does not exist. In order to
create the requested statistics that we do not maintain, substantial
resources will be required.
Reference could be drawn to the Code of Access to Information government
webpage quoting compendium of cases, where complaints have been made to
the Ombudsman on the non-compliance of the Code^#. In a case where the
requested records/statistics were not readily available and substantial
resources would be required by the department concerned to create the
records, the Ombudsman considered that in not entertaining the request,
the department had acted according to the Code and no maladministration
was found.
As laid down in paragraph 1.26 of the Code, in case you are not satisfied
with our reply, you may lodge a complaint to the Ombudsman, whose address
is –
30/F, China Merchants Tower
Shun Tak Centre
168-200 Connaught Road Central
Hong Kong
Telephone : 2629 0555
Fax : 2882 8149
Regards,
SUM Henry Ka-hing
for Director of Immigration
Reference:
^# See “Code on Access to Information – Compendium of Cases” – Case 1:
[1]https://www.access.gov.hk/en/referencema...
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [2]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
