Canada offers a light bulb scheme to Hong Kongers seeking refuge in Canada. I would like to highlight two challenges faced by immigrants from Hong Kong.
The first one is on the MPF. The ongoing prevention of Hong Kongers from withdrawing their own retirement savings from the mandatory provident fund is a clear form of transnational repression. It is unjust that even Hong Kongers who have obtained their PR status are facing challenges in accessing their own savings.
A Hong Konger who obtained Canadian PR applied to withdraw their MPF savings from Manulife but was denied simply because they arrived in Canada with their BNO passport. On the Canadian PR card—you can see the picture—under nationality it clearly states GBN, which means they are a British national overseas. This individual, like many others, is being denied their rightful access to their own savings.
The MPF is a compulsory retirement savings scheme in Hong Kong. It allows Hong Kongers to withdraw their own retirement savings early if they depart Hong Kong permanently. Manulife and Sun Life, two Canadian MPF trustees, are blocking thousands of Hong Kongers from accessing an estimated 1.5 billion dollars' worth of retirement savings. Research by Hong Kong Watch shows that over 80% of surveyed Hong Kongers who have permanently migrated to the U.K. and Canada and applied for MPF withdrawal have been rejected.
The grounds for rejection are often based on arguments that BNO passports and visas are not valid travel documents or do not demonstrate permission to reside outside Hong Kong. Despite the Hong Kong government MPFA releasing a statement in 2021 no longer recognizing the BNO passport, the MPF-related legislation in terms of the deeds governing entitlement to MPF benefits remain unchanged.
Under the MPF, trustees like Manulife and Sun Life have a legal obligation to release the savings to beneficiaries who can provide evidence of the right to reside in a foreign country. The BNO passport is a U.K.-issued document and the BNO visa is not a temporary work permit. It provides routes to permanent settlement and British citizenship. Denying individuals with BNO passports their rightful access to their own savings is a violation of their fundamental rights. We cannot ignore this injustice. I urge parliamentarians to investigate this pressing issue and stand with the people of Hong Kong.
On the second issue, I would like to talk about the Hong Kong pathway. I'm here to represent two groups of Hong Kongers consisting of over 1,000 members who applied for stream A and stream B PR applications. Our objective is to request an increase in admissions targets, clear the existing backlog and ensure priority processing.
There are approximately 60,000 Hong Kongers under the Hong Kong pathway. In the first quarter of this year, 335 applicants were granted PR. As of now, there are close to 9,000 pending PR applications. The Hong Kong pathway operates under the humanitarian category. IRCC has set the admission target for H and C at 13,750 in 2024, but the allocation for the Hong Kong pathway remains unknown.
As we advocate an increase in admissions targets for the Hong Kong pathway, it is crucial for IRCC to recognize the urgency of the situation, approve all PR applications submitted in 2023 within the next two years, and honour our commitment to the Hong Kong community.
Thank you.