Lengths of detention at CIC
Dear Immigration Department,
I am writing to make an information request regarding length of detention / duration of detention at Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre (“CIC”). May I know,
A) Whether the Immigration Department maintains statistical information on the lengths of detention / duration of detention at CIC?
B) If yes, what type of data is kept (ex. Numbers, percentages) and in what categories (ex. 1 – 6 days, 7 – 13 days, etc)
C) Similarly, does the Immigration Department keep data similar to that held by the Correctional Services Department prior to the transfer of management of CIC as seen in Annex A of this document? (https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr09-10/english...)
Thank you for your help with this inquiry.
Yours faithfully,
H. Y. Fung
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
Our department has received your application for access to information on
17.12.2021. Your application is now under processing. According to
paragraph 1.16 of the Code on Access to Information, our department will
inform you of the latest progress of the case separately on or before
06.01.2022.
If you have any enquiry, please contact the undersigned via this email.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
Further to the interim reply on 24.12.2021, I am writing to inform you
that your application for Access to Information is still under processing,
as more time is required to gather and consolidate the information
requested in your application (if any). According to paragraph 1.18 of the
Code on Access to Information, our department will inform you of the
latest progress of the case separately on or before 05.02.2022.
If you have any enquiry, please contact the undersigned via this email.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
I refer to your request for access to information on 17 December 2021 and
our interim replies to you on 24 December 2021 and 6 January 2022. I
hereby provide you with the following information.
The Immigration Department does not maintain the statistical information
of length of detention at the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre (“CIC”)
over a period of time. Based on the date of your request, however, we are
able to provide the detention period of detainees at the CIC as at 17
December 2021 as follows:
Detention Period (days) Number of detainees
1 to 6 49
7 to 13 31
14 to 20 18
21 to 29 30
30 to 59 41
60 or above 99
Average daily detainee population at the CIC from 2019 to 2021:
Year 2019 2020 2021
No. of detainees 385 349 268
The HKSAR Government has all along strictly followed the established
detention policy, and in accordance with the relevant legal requirements
and legal principles established by the Court. The HKSAR Government will
conduct regular and timely review of each detention case in accordance
with the prevailing mechanisms to determine whether an individual should
be further detained, and will notify the person concerned in writing of
the results of the review with justifications, and conduct an interview
with the person concerned to explain the relevant situation. The duration
of the detention of a person hinges on the circumstances of individual
cases and the relevant changes, which cannot be generalized.
I hope the information is useful to you.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Dear Immigration Department,
Thank you kindly for your response and the information provided. I would like to clarify:
A) If statistics on length of detention at CIC 'over a period of time' are not maintained, are statistics on length of detention as a snapshot of other dates (similar to the snapshot of Dec 17 that was kindly provided) available?
B) If so, would it be possible to provide the lengths of detention at CIC for the end of each month of 2021 and 2022 (so far)?
C) Lastly, for the Dec 17, 2021 data and any further data that might be provided, would it be possible to separate the upper-most category of '60+' days into smaller categories (such as 60-90 days, 90-180 days, 1 year, 2 years, etc)?
Thank you very much for your help and attention to this matter; it is greatly appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
H. Y. Fung
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
Our department has received your follow-up application for access to
information on 25.02.2022. Your application is now under processing.
According to paragraph 1.16 of the Code on Access to Information, our
department will inform you of the latest progress of the case separately
on or before 17.03.2022.
If you have any enquiry, please contact the undersigned via this email.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
I refer to your request for access to information on 25 February 2022 and
our interim reply to you on 1 March 2022. I hereby provide you with the
following information.
For (A) & (B), the detention periods of detainees at the Castle Peak Bay
Immigration Centre (“CIC”) as at end of each month from 2021 to 2022 (as
at 28 February 2022) are appended as follows:
2021:
Detention Number of Detainees
Period 31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31
(days) January February March April May June July August September October November December
1 to 6 39 23 22 43 30 32 34 26 49 46 33 40
7 to 13 26 37 26 29 25 39 28 36 33 19 33 40
14 to 20 22 24 22 23 13 28 27 29 16 16 15 21
21 to 29 20 18 10 27 25 26 27 20 36 18 23 29
30 to 59 34 33 41 30 66 39 66 56 39 61 50 60
60 to 89 17 18 21 33 17 26 22 30 22 26 36 28
90 to 179 45 46 41 37 50 38 42 34 49 57 36 45
180 or 50 52 63 68 63 26 25 33 38 36 30 30
above
2022:
Detention Period (days) Number of Detainees
31 January 28 February
1 to 6 36 14
7 to 13 32 9
14 to 20 20 22
21 to 29 34 10
30 to 59 56 61
60 to 89 26 47
90 to 179 46 55
180 or above 32 35
For (C), the detention periods of detainees at the CIC as at 17 December
2021 are appended as follows:
Detention Period (days) Number of Detainees
1 to 6 49
7 to 13 31
14 to 20 18
21 to 29 30
30 to 59 41
60 or 89 33
90 to 179 38
180 or above 28
I hope the information is useful to you.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Dear Immigration Department,
Thank you very much for the information provided. I would like to kindly request whether it would be possible to provide:
A) The previous data with further breakdowns (ie. 180 to 269, 270 to 365, 366 to 456 days, and so on OR any other breakdowns as feasible)
B) The same requested information for the end of month dates of i) 2017 - 2020 and ii) from March 2022
Thanks again for your help and attention to this matter.
Yours faithfully,
H. Y. Fung
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
Our department has received your follow-up application for access to
information on 01.06.2022. Your application is now under processing.
According to paragraph 1.16 of the Code on Access to Information, our
department will inform you of the latest progress of the case separately
on or before 21.06.2022.
If you have any enquiry, please contact the undersigned via this email.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
Further to our interim reply on 10.06.2022, I am writing to inform you
that your application for Access to Information is still under processing,
as more time is required to gather and consolidate the information
requested in your application (if any). According to paragraph 1.18 of the
Code on Access to Information, our department will inform you of the
latest progress of the case separately on or before 21.07.2022.
If you have any enquiry, please contact the undersigned via this email.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
Our Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/6-5/10 (R) Pt.3
Dear H. Y. Fung,
I refer to your request for access to information on 1 June 2022 and our
interim replies to you on 10 and 21 June 2022. I hereby provide you with
the following information.
The Immigration Department (“ImmD”) has all along strictly followed the
established detention policy, and in accordance with the relevant legal
requirements and legal principles established by the Court. In
determining whether a person should be released or detained, the ImmD will
take into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, including
whether the person concerned has committed a serious crime; whether the
person is likely to pose a threat or security risk to the community if not
being detained; and whether there is any risk of the person absconding
and/or (re)offending, etc. The ImmD will conduct regular and timely
review of each detention case in accordance with the prevailing mechanisms
to determine whether an individual should be further detained, and will
notify the person concerned in writing of the results of the review with
justifications, and conduct an interview with the person concerned to
explain the relevant situation. The duration of the detention of a person
hinges on the circumstances of individual cases and the relevant changes,
which cannot be generalized.
As to your current application, a summary table of all categories of the
length of detention at the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre as at the
end of each month from 2017 to 2022 (as at 31 May 2022) is attached below.
Please note that the ImmD does not maintain any further breakdown of the
requested information.
Best Regards,
CHEUNG Kai-ho
for Director of Immigration
