Eight Hong Kong activists serving jail sentences in Shenzhen after attempting to flee to Taiwan last August are expected to be sent back to Hong Kong on Monday and be taken into police custody.

The eight are expected to enter Hong Kong via the Shenzhen Bay Port and will then be met by police officers from the national security department, sources said. They will first be taken to Tin Shui Wai police station before starting their mandatory quarantines.

The eight activists had been on bail for various protest-related offenses when they attempted to flee Hong Kong last August. It’s expected that they will be held in custody upon their return as their criminal proceedings in Hong Kong resume.

The eight activists were expected to arrive in Hong Kong in four groups, starting at 10 a.m. and continuing until 5 p.m., sources said.

Beijing’s newly established agency in Hong Kong, the Office for Safeguarding National Security, has reportedly forwarded statements made by the activists during their detention in Shenzhen to Hong Kong’s national security department officers.

This arrangement means that the activists’ immediate questioning upon their return to Hong Kong is expected to be brief, before they are taken into mandatory quarantine.

As of last Wednesday, family members had not been notified of the date of the activists’ return, but Li Tsz-yin had reportedly told his mother that his sentence was expected to conclude on March 22.

Among the eight activists, only Andy Li was arrested in connection with an offense under the national security law. The others were charged with various other offenses, including arson, rioting, assaulting police and possession of offensive weapons.

The eight activists were originally part of a group of 12 that attempted to flee from Hong Kong to Taiwan before they were intercepted by the mainland Chinese Coast Guard last August. The eight were sentenced by a Shenzhen court to seven months in prison for an illegal border crossing.

Two underage members of the group were not prosecuted and were sent back to Hong Kong in December, while two others who were convicted of the more serious offense of “organizing an illegal border crossing” were sentenced to longer prison terms of between two and three years.

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