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The Hong Kong Mass Migration Wave was one of the waves of emigration of
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
residents since the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, accelerated by the
Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the British colonial g ...
and extending into the
1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...
and
1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16s and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, F-15s fly over burning o ...
fuelled by
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
. By some estimates, the number of emigrants was in tens of thousands in this period.


History

Traditional ways of life in the
Indigenous inhabitants Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in the
New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...
collapsed at the end of WWII. Unable to earn a living in the newly industrialised economy of post-war Hong Kong, many villagers exercised their
right of abode The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there withou ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and left for
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In 1967, a series of large-scale riots erupted in Hong Kong, causing social instability. These events led some of the richer Hong Kong residents to move abroad. Emigration took place to countries in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
or
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
n countries. This wave did not come to a rest until the mid-
1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...
. On 19 December 1984, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
and the United Kingdom signed the
Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...
, and validated the 1997
transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admin ...
to China. The declaration prompted emigration of the
Hongkongers Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...
. The British government made it clear that Hong Kong citizens would not be granted British citizenship on the grounds that they were residing in a British colony, so instead, numerous residents sought alternate arrangements and migrated to other countries. The
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Four ...
in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
triggered mass migration in the 1990s.
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, and other
Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonweal ...
were the primary destinations for migrants at the time. In particular, popular cities for migrants included
Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...
and the
Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...
in Canada,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
and
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
in Australia, and
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in the UK. To a lesser extent, other immigrant destinations included
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
in the US, as well as several Asian cities including
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, a former British colony. At the height of the mass migration wave, some small states like
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
advertised their passport in magazines. Some foreign embassies took bribes for giving out passports, amounting to outright
political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, i ...
. Some people had relocated overseas through studying abroad and staying after graduation, while others simply obtained returning residency visa from the destination country, which was issued by some countries with no conditions attached in the late 1980s, and then returned to Hong Kong. Informed estimates range from 250,000 to one million people, with the peak years of outflow between 1988 and 1994 of about 55,000 per year. In 1990, the outflow of people reached a peak of 62,000 people or about 1% of the population. The emigration rate would reach the peak in 1992 with 66,000 people, followed by 53,000 in 1993, and 62,000 in 1994. An estimated flowed from Hong Kong to Canada directly as a result. From 1998, one year after the transfer of sovereignty, some Hong Kong-born emigrants returned to Hong Kong with foreign citizenship. The phenomenon is called "" (Hong Kong returning tidal flow). In 2011, the estimated migration rate reached a peak. In Hong Kong, over 65 percent of Hong Kong permanent residents desired to migrate to other countries in a survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.


2020–present: Post-national security law

Following the implementation of the national security law on 1 July 2020, Nathan Law, a prominent activist, fled Hong Kong and sparked speculation that a large wave of emigration was imminent. Said law has been interpreted by some as a means to persecute individuals for participating in the
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, also known as the 2019 Hong Kong protests, or the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, were a series of demonstrations from 15 March 2019 in response to the introduction by the Hong Kong government ...
. A number of nations have moved to expedite the immigration process and/or grant refugee status to many Hong Kong emigrants, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Australia announced that students from Hong Kong would be eligible for a 5 year temporary graduate visa after completing "eligible" tertiary studies, leading to a pathway to permanent residency after 5 years. A five year visa is also available to certain high priority temporary skilled workers. The UK announced a pathway for British Nationality (Overseas) citizens as well as certain dependents; up to three million Hongkongers have or are eligible to obtain nationality.


Canada

Canada announced new ways for Hongkongers to immigrate and changes for refugees. Hongkongers who graduated from a recognized post-secondary institution worldwide in the last five years could apply for a 3-year open work permit. Their spouse or partner or children could also apply to come with them. Hongkongers living in Canada who have graduated from a "recognized Canadian learning institution" in the last 3 years could apply for permanent resident immigration. Hongkongers living in Canada who have graduated from a "recognized Canadian learning institution" or a post-graduate programme worldwide, and has worked a year in Canada within the last five years could apply for permanent resident immigration. Study permit applications would be expedited. Failed refugee claims no longer have to wait one year to apply for re-assessment. No one would be disqualified by being charged under the national security law. Applications would be processed faster. Canadians in Hong Kong could return at any time, and their documents would be processed faster. Family members in Hong Kong of Canadians could travel to Canada under the current exemptions from travel restrictions.


United Kingdom

In January 2021, the UK government introduced a new visa scheme for holders of the
British National (Overseas) British National (Overseas), abbreviated BN(O), is a class of British nationality associated with the former colony of Hong Kong. The status was acquired through voluntary registration by individuals with a connection to the territory who ha ...
passport. The measure, intended to help Hongkongers escape the territory after the imposition of the security law, was denounced by the Chinese government, which said it would no longer recognise the BNO passport. By the end of 2021, around 88,000 Hongkongers had applied for the visa.


See also

*
History of Hong Kong The region of Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age, later becoming part of the Chinese Empire with its loose incorporation into the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Starting out as a farming fishing village and salt production site, ...
*
Demographics of Hong Kong This article is about the demographic features of the population of Hong Kong, including population density, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. Hong Kong i ...
*
Hong Kong returnee A Hong Kong returnee is a resident of Hong Kong who emigrated to another country, lived for an extended period of time in his or her adopted home, and then subsequently moved back to Hong Kong. Population According to the Hong Kong Transition ...
*
British nationality law and Hong Kong British nationality law as it pertains to Hong Kong has been unusual ever since Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842. From its beginning as a sparsely populated trading port to today's cosmopolitan international financial centre and wo ...
* Brain drain * Yacht people


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waves of Mass Migrations From Hong Kong History of Hong Kong