Hongkongers need more help to settle in the UK
Letters: Hongkongers escaping China’s repression are being denied fair access to homes and jobs in the UK, says Sarah Champion
Your article (UK not doing enough to support those fleeing Hong Kong, advocacy group says, 8 August) demonstrates the current failure of the British government to plan for Hongkongers arriving in the UK under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme.
Representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recently told the all-party parliamentary group on Hong Kong that they had written to regulators and professional associations calling for a unified way of assessing qualifications from BN(O) status holders.
In addition, the secretary of state has supposedly written to landlord and letting agent organisations about the status of BN(O) visa holders, and encouraged them to make necessary arrangements to help them. Clearly, neither of these actions has had the desired effect.
The government must go back to the drawing board and come up with practical measures that will make a tangible and positive difference to Hongkongers who have already faced so much difficulty.
Representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recently told the all-party parliamentary group on Hong Kong that they had written to regulators and professional associations calling for a unified way of assessing qualifications from BN(O) status holders.
In addition, the secretary of state has supposedly written to landlord and letting agent organisations about the status of BN(O) visa holders, and encouraged them to make necessary arrangements to help them. Clearly, neither of these actions has had the desired effect.
The government must go back to the drawing board and come up with practical measures that will make a tangible and positive difference to Hongkongers who have already faced so much difficulty.
