The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme was successfully launched on Saturday 26/2/2022 at Southampton. The Mayor of Southampton Councillor Alexander Houghton, Councillor Spiros Vassiliou and Pastor Henry Wai from Southampton Chinese Christian Church joined the Chinese Association of Southampton to welcome the new arrivals from Hong Kong.
Up to five million Hong Kong-born citizens have been offered the right to live permanently in the UK, based on the new British National Overseas (BNO) visa route. This is the largest planned migration for decades in the UK, so the impact will be significant. The latest migration statistics revealed more than 88,000 Hong Kong people have arrived in the UK between January and September 2021.
There are thousands of Chinese students studying in Southampton every year. With new arrivals from Hong Kong, Hampshire will become even more vibrant and diverse.
In today’s launch and welcome event, we talked to the new arrivals and discussed various issues that they are facing. Some of them have to live in Airbnb for a few months before they are offered a place to rent! Some of them are working on various part-time jobs, while looking for a suitable permanent job. The Chinese Association of Southampton is working with the Southampton City Council and various agencies to help them quickly adapt to the new living environment in the UK and successfully integrate into society and make contributions in the local community.
Michael Ng, chair
Vikkie Cheng, vice-chair
Chinese Association of Southampton
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