Families are scrambling to send their children abroad to study as fears grow that the imminent introduction of Beijing’s new national security law will demolish the freedoms Hongkongers had been promised for at least 50 years by China under “one country, two systems.”

Parents and children swarmed to booths specializing in helping students find places in popular destinations such as Britain, the United States, Australia and Canada at the major event held on Sunday in the Kowloon Bay district of Hong Kong.

At one of the booths, Aston Education consultancy assistant manager Wen Lai said inquiries were 30-50% higher than a year earlier. The jump in demand wasn’t just for places at universities, with more and more parents seeking to send their kids overseas to finish their primary and secondary schooling, she said, adding that many had plans for their whole family to emigrate.

Lai said she believed the surge was driven by the national security law that Chinese lawmakers are expected to pass during their annual three-day meeting that ends on Tuesday.

The law would ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external or foreign forces in the city. However, many fear China will use it as a pretext to crush political dissent and acts of civil disobedience currently permitted in Hong Kong.

One parent said she had originally planned to send her daughter, now in her second year of secondary school, to university overseas but was now looking to send her to the U.K., Canada or Taiwan in one or two years if possible.

“There’s no reason to let her suffer in Hong Kong,” Shek said, adding that she had seen Hong Kong become more and more like mainland China in the past year. “It’s not just sad, it’s a tragedy.”

She said she feared Hongkongers would no longer be safe and their freedoms would not exist after the national security law came to effect.

Shek’s daughter said she was worried that one day Hongkongers would engage in self-censorship.

“It’s quite scary when you know that your every move is being monitored,” she said.

Another parent said she had lost faith in Hong Kong and hoped her children could “leave while they can.”

Separately, a student group polling students’ views on the national security law at a street booth on Sunday, said they had received 700 responses to their survey in the past two days, all of which opposed the national security law.

Max, a second year secondary school student, who declined to give his full name due to fears of persecution, said the group hoped to collect 2,000 responses. While he was worried about the law coming into effect, he said he still felt a duty to speak out.

“This is our home, so we’re going to try our best to protect it,” he said.

One first-year student, who did not wish to be identified, said fellow students shouldn’t underestimate the effects of the legislation.

“It’s not a law that will disappear in 10 or 20 years, it’s one that will affect your entire life and the lives of your grandkids,” she said.

Click here for Chinese version.

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