Bolton’s Hong Kong community protest ‘draconian’ rules

Organisation for the protest began after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood laid out her changes to the UK immigration process, including an increase in the level of English required from B1 (GCSE) to B2 (A level) and an income threshold increase to £12,570.

Around 18 protesters met at Bolton food market before making their way through the town centre, culminating at the back entrance to Bolton town hall where the protesters handed an envelope to an official to be given to Mayor David Chadwick.

The group also held a 15 second silence for those killed in the Hong Kong tower block fire.

Organiser Emily Leung said: “I’m very disappointed with the changes the government are making.

“We just think that it’s ridiculous – we contribute a lot to the UK.

“We feel so uncertain about it.”

Ms Leung – who runs ‘Sweet Drinks and Desserts’ in Bolton Market – will not herself be affected by the changes as she meets all of the criteria for English proficiency and income, but she is concerned for those who do not.

In particular, Ms Leung and the other protesters are concerned about the status of Hong Kong refugees, who under the new rules may have to wait 20 years for full citizenship.

The protesters were bearing signs with the slogan ‘five demands – not one less’, a reference to the slogan of the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition protests, the largest protests in Hong Kong’s history.

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Another demonstrator – who requested we refer to her as ‘Wu’ – said: “We want the officials who are attempting to move the goalposts to step down.

“We’ve sacrificed a lot to be here – we just want a stable life.

“But now the government is making us feel very insecure and unsafe.”

The protesters had five demands for the UK government, including maintaining the currently English language requirement of B1 and not imposing an income requirement.

The protesters also demanded that there be no increase in VISA fees, that university fees for BN(O) VISA holders should be the same as for naturalized UK citizens, and that the people who proposed the bill should be ‘held accountable, resign, and step down’.