Immigration Department carries out in-flight escort repatriation operation repatriating six unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants to their place of origin
The Immigration Department (ImmD) carried out an in-flight escort repatriation operation codenamed "Expel" yesterday (November 6), deploying officers to repatriate six unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants to Pakistan successfully. The persons removed were all male illegal immigrants. Among them were discharged prisoners who had committed criminal offences and had been sentenced to imprisonment. Since the persons had repeatedly refused to accept repatriation arrangements and vigorously resisted in previous repatriation operations, the ImmD resorted to use an in-flight escort to effect the forced repatriation.
An ImmD spokesman said, "The ImmD has been committed to promptly removing unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants from Hong Kong to maintain effective immigration control and safeguard the public interest. As there are currently no direct flights between Hong Kong and Pakistan, repatriating Pakistani claimants need to transit through a connecting airport to Pakistan. To enhance removal efforts, the ImmD, for the first time, arranged a special chartered flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, then interchanged a commercial flight to Pakistan to effect the in-flight escort repatriation operation. The ImmD successfully carried out the forced repatriation to remove six unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants to their home country in a single operation, and handed them over to the relevant government authorities. This has significantly enhanced the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the repatriation process."
Under the updated removal policy effective from December 7, 2022, the ImmD may generally proceed with the removal of a claimant whose judicial review case has been dismissed by the Court of First Instance of the High Court, thereby enhancing the efficiency of and efforts in removing unsubstantiated claimants.
The ImmD will continue to explore different feasible solutions to expedite the repatriation of unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants, and will actively co-ordinate with relevant authorities to optimise repatriation routes. The ImmD will actively maintain close liaison with governments of major source countries of non-refoulement claimants, airline companies and other government departments to repatriate unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants from Hong Kong as soon as practicable through all appropriate measures.
Immigration Department carries out in-flight escort repatriation operation repatriating six unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants to their place of origin Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Adjustment of income and asset limits of Working Family Allowance Scheme and arrangements for disbursement of one-off extra allowance announced
The Government announced today (April 1) the adjustment of income and asset limits of the Working Family Allowance (WFA) Scheme for 2026-27.
The WFA Scheme supports lower-income working households not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), promoting full-time employment and self-reliance, as well as rewarding hard work. It also provides child allowances to households with eligible children. The allowance under the WFA Scheme is assessed on a monthly basis with reference to household income and working hours. Under the WFA Scheme, the claim period covers the six calendar months preceding the submission of an application, and eligible households must make applications for each claim period.
The Government adjusts the income and asset limits of the WFA Scheme in April each year. Under the established adjustment mechanism, the Government adjusts the income limits of the WFA Scheme with reference to the median monthly domestic household income of economically active households of the previous calendar year. According to this mechanism, and based on the relevant statistics for 2025 released by the Census and Statistics Department, the 2026-27 income limits under the WFA Scheme for households with six or more persons would be tightened, while those for five-person households would be lower than those for four-person households. A number of existing WFA households would thus become ineligible for, or receive less, WFA. To minimise the adverse impact on WFA households, the Government will:
(a) maintain the income limits of the WFA Scheme for households with six persons or more at the 2025-26 level;
(b)adjust the income limits of the WFA Scheme for five-person households to align with those for four-person households; and
(c)increase the income limits of the WFA Scheme for other household sizes according to the established mechanism.
As regards the asset limits of the WFA Scheme, they are set with reference to the asset limits for public rental housing. The Government will increase the asset limits for all household sizes according to the mechanism. The adjusted income and asset limits of the WFA Scheme are provided at Annex. These arrangements will apply for one year starting from the claim month of April 2026.
In addition, if the Appropriation Bill 2026 (the Bill) is passed by the Legislative Council (LegCo), the Government will, as proposed in the 2026-27 Budget, disburse a one-off extra allowance to WFA households. The extra allowance is expected to be disbursed one month after the LegCo's passage of the Bill at the earliest.
Households in receipt of WFA whose applications are made within the applicable period (i.e. from the first day of the month in which the Bill is passed by the LegCo to the date of its passage; and the six calendar months before that month) and eventually approved will be eligible for the one-off extra allowance. The extra allowance is equal to the average monthly allowance in approved months in a recipient's most recent WFA application submitted within the applicable period and eventually approved. The amount varies from case to case.
In order to be eligible for the one-off extra allowance, new applicants or previous WFA recipients who have yet to submit applications during the applicable period should submit their applications before the applicable period expires (i.e. on or before the date of passage of the Bill by the LegCo). For applications submitted by post, the date of the post-stamp will be adopted as the application date.
If a WFA household is receiving CSSA on the date of passage of the Bill, the household will only be eligible for one single extra allowance under either the WFA Scheme or the CSSA Scheme, whichever is the greater.
For enquiries, please visit the website of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (wfsfaa.gov.hk) or call the 24-hour hotline of the Working Family Allowance Office at 2558 3000.
Source: AI-found images
