Hong Kong Mass Migration Wave

The Hong Kong Mass Migration Wave was the waves of emigration of Hong Kong residents to overseas countries since the Second World War, accelerated by the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots and extending into the 1980s-90s. By some estimates, from 1980 to 1990 the number of emigrants were in the tens of thousands.

Post-WWII

Traditional ways of life in the Indigenous inhabitants villages in New Territories 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 rights to obtain UK citizenships and left for Europe.

Post-1967

In 1967 a series of large-scale riots erupted in Hong Kong, causing social instability. This instability led some of the richer Hong Kong residents to decide to emigrate. This also triggered more departures of indigenous inhabitants.

Background of 80s-90s Migration Wave

On December 19, 1984, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom signed the "Sino-British Joint Declaration", validating the 1997 transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. The Declaration thus prompted emigration. 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 numerous residents sought alternate arrangements and migrated to other countries.

Course of events

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing triggered mass migration in the 1990s. Canada, Australia and the United States were the primary destinations for migrants at the time. At the height of the mass migration wave, some small states like Cape Verde advertised their passport in magazines. Some foreign embassies Fact|date=December 2007 took bribes for giving out passports, amounting to outright political corruption.

The precise figure of migration is difficult to gauge, since some had relocated overseas through studying abroad and staying after graduation, while others may simply obtain returning residency visa from the destination country, which was issued by some countries with no conditions attached in the late 1980s, and return to Hong Kong. Informed estimates range from 250,000 to 1 million, with the peak years of outflow between 1988 and 1994 of about 55,000 per year.

From 1998, one year after the transfer of sovereignty, some Hong Kong-born emigrants returned to Hong Kong with foreign citizenships as a result of failure to succeed overseas and the positive outlook of Hong Kong's economy after the handover. The phenomenon is called "香港回流潮" (Hong-Kong returning tidal flow).

Immigrant destinations

Many people from Hong Kong chose to migrate to Vancouver, Canada and central Richmond of British Columbia, Canada is nicknamed "Little Hong Kong". Other favoured cities were Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, San Francisco, and Singapore.

ee also

*Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
*History of Hong Kong
*1980s in Hong Kong
*1990s in Hong Kong
*Hong Kong returnee
*British nationality law and Hong Kong