Immigration law changes proposed by the government should specify that new powers to bar travelers from a plane apply only to Hong Kong-bound flights and not departures, the professional association of barristers in Hong Kong says.

The suggested legislative revisions would effectively grant the Director of Immigration the authority, as empowered by the Secretary for Security, to ban a passenger or crew member from taking a plane to the city, and was meant to target asylum seekers.

Earlier, the Hong Kong Bar Association voiced concerns that the legal amendments might restrict Hongkongers from boarding a flight out of the city. In its latest statement, issued on Tuesday night, the association acknowledged that the government had since clarified the intended scope was far more limited.

The Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2020 was aimed at only inbound passengers and crew, with the purpose of preventing non-refoulement claimants from entering Hong Kong, and would not affect Hongkongers’ freedom to travel or right to enter or leave the city, the association cited the government as saying.

The ongoing debate stemmed from a government proposal to the legislature that would let the security minister draw up regulations providing for the supply of information to the immigration director about a carrier, a passenger or a crew member, and to empower the director to block specific individuals from being carried on board the carrier.

It had given the impression that the immigration director would be authorized to prohibit any person, including Hong Kong residents, from leaving the city, according to the association in a submission on the amendment bill last week.

“The proposed legislation does not set out the grounds on which the director would be permitted to exercise this extraordinary power. Nor does it provide any safeguards against abuse,” the association said on Feb. 11.

The Security Bureau responded two days later, saying that the association had misunderstood the objectives and facts of the bill.

It emphasized that the proposal was intended to require the provision of passenger information on flights heading to Hong Kong, rather than departing flights, which could help authorities prevent potential asylum seekers from entering Hong Kong. “The right of Hong Kong residents to enter or leave Hong Kong is not affected,” the bureau said on Feb. 13.

In its Tuesday statement, the legal body expressed appreciation for the bureau’s clarification and urged the government to state more clearly the proposed new powers of the immigration chief.

“To reflect the true intention of clause 3 of the bill it should be amended to make clear that the director’s power to prohibit the carriage of any person on board a carrier is exercisable only in relation to inbound flights heading to Hong Kong but not departing flights,” the association wrote.

“The primary legislation should further state that such power of prohibition does not affect in any way the right of a Hong Kong resident and person with the right to enter and remain” in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

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