The Government today announced that a resident who has completed a sentence in the Philippines has returned to Hong Kong safely accompanied by officers from the Immigration Department (ImmD).

He reunited with his family at the Hong Kong airport upon arrival in the city and expressed gratitude to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government for their years of assistance, which enabled his prompt return to the city to reunite with his family after being released.

His family was delighted with the reunion and thanked the Hong Kong SAR Government and the ImmD for maintaining close contact with them and for providing proactive responses to their assistance requests.

The Government stated that it has always attached great importance to cases involving Hong Kong residents detained or imprisoned overseas, safeguarding their legal rights and remaining committed to providing assistance to them.

Upon the ImmD's receipt of the request-for-assistance from the resident's family in 2003, the Hong Kong SAR Government maintained close contact with the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR (OCMFA) and the Embassy, making every effort to provide practicable assistance to the resident and his family.

The Embassy also attached great importance to the case, having arranged officials to pay visits to the detained Hong Kong resident during his sentence and actively approached the local judicial authorities to follow up on the situation.

Upon learning that the resident had completed his sentence in the Philippines, the ImmD and the Embassy actively liaised with relevant Filipino authorities to follow up and immediately issued him with travel documents to expedite the overall repatriation procedure.

The Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the ImmD also sent officers to the Philippines to co-ordinate the relevant repatriation arrangements with the Embassy and the Filipino authorities.

The Hong Kong SAR Government expressed gratitude to the OCMFA and the Embassy for their support and assistance in facilitating the prompt return of the resident following his release, which resulted in a prompt and smooth repatriation arrangement.

The ImmD will continue to follow up on the case and provide practicable assistance to the resident.