New version - 2019 6 11 12:48
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June 12, 2019
Andrew Heyn OBE
Consul General to Hong Kong & Macao,
British Consulate-General Hong Kong
Petition Letter
by a Group of British Citizens and British Nationals (Overseas) in Hong Kong
Your Excellency,
We are writing urgently to express our deepest concern for a currently proposed change to the Fugitives Offenders Ordinance (often referred to as Extradition Law) put forward by the government of Hong Kong.
On 9th Jun 2019, a million of Hong Kong people has marched a day and night onto the streets to protest against the introduction of this proposed extradition law. Hong Kong currently has extradition agreements with 18 countries, including the UK and four other EU member states. The proposed amendment will extend extradition coverage to laws of communist mainland China. This bill, if passed, will pose an imminent threat to civil rights of and the very safety to British nationals with connections to or living in Hong Kong.
Although the Chief Executive Carrie Lam has given assurances that there will be room for further discussions and there will be safeguards in place, we do not trust the legal system in China nor do we trust that the government of Hong Kong will stand up against Chinese authorities.
We ask, if this bill was passed by the Legislative Council, the UK government consider:
• to take further actions to oppose the introduction of this extradition law for Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and freedoms enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration;
• to officially declare a breach by China on the Sino-British Joint Declaration should the government of Hong Kong and Beijing continue to neglect the further actions taken by the UK and the international communities; also
• to consider, in the United Nations, the possibility of voiding the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2908 that deprived Hong Kong people of the right to self-determination;
• to examine to expand the right of BN(O) passport holders to reside in the UK and/or some member states of the Commonwealth. Some British overseas territories such as Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands might also be considered.
Yours Sincerely,
A Group of British Citizens and British Nationals (Overseas) in Hong Kong