As Hong Kongers seek to emigrate, some simply can’t leave

 Pamela Lam’s 6-year-old son fell in love with Hong Kong protest anm, ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, first time he heard it, and he loves singing it, at home, in shower, and sometimes on streets.

Thanks to a sweeping new national security law, though, singing it in public is w risky. As China's communist leers tighten controls that many believe are stripping semi-automous Hong Kong of its freedoms, some families are considering moving away from former British colony, but few can afford to.

After Britain anunced in May that it would allow holders of British National (Overseas) passports extended stays and a path to citizenship, thousands of Hong Kongers rushed to renew or apply for m.

That may be an option for relatively affluent Hong Kongers, who often have been educated overseas and hold multiple passports, but t for most of its 7 million residents.

One in five Hong Kong families scrapes by below poverty line in a city with one of biggest populations of billionaires, many of whom are tycoons who carved out lucrative niches in manufacturing, tre, property development and finance.

“I’ve thought about moving to Australia, or U.K., but we don’t have financial ability to do it w,” said Lam, who has a B passport.

“We don’t have to worry about putting food on table or clos on our backs, but re isn’t much room for more," said Lam, a freelance designer whose family’s monthly income is about $4,300.

Most people in most countries eir cant or would t consider moving away to escape ir governments. But many living in Hong Kong chose to escape communist mainland or are descended from people who did.

Lam’s parents fled from China in 1970s, seeking a better life free from political chaos and poverty. She joined peaceful mass protests last year and is among many younger Hong Kong residents who grew up counting on enclave’s freedoms and hoping for greater, t less democracy.

Beijing promised Hong Kong 50 years of a “one-country, two-systems” arrangement granting city its own customs territory and legal system after 1997 handover. y are underpinned by western-style civil liberties, such as right to public dissent, that are rarely allowed on Chinese mainland.

Even moving to nearby Taiwan, a self-governed island democracy that China claims as its own territory, would be a stretch financially, Lam says.

In early July, Taiwan opened an office to help Hong Kongers interested in studying, working or starting a business to move to island. office said it h received over 1,000 inquiries as of July 27, mostly related to emigration.

For many families, it’s a “very tough life” in Hong Kong, especially if y have mortgs to pay off, said Paul Yip, a professor at University of Hong Kong’s department of social work. He puts number of Hong Kongers enjoying a Western-style middle class life and likely able to afford emigration at about 10% of population.

It’s unclear how many in Hong Kong might be considering moving.

Hong Kong police say number of people requesting a certificate of convictions — often required to apply for visas — jumped 53% between 2014, year an earlier round of protests called Umbrella Revolution took place, and 2019.

As of December 2019, number of people holding valid B passports was 314,779, according to U.K., more than double four years earlier. Those who qualify can apply for visas enabling m and ir immediate family members to live and work in U.K. and eventually apply for citizenship, British government says. However, y must show y have means to support mselves in U.K. for six months, and will t be entitled to public support.

As a freewheeling capitalist enclave, Hong Kong's population includes nearly 732,000 expatriates in territory.

Globetrotting bankers and or executives tend to arrive with a promise of tickets onward or back home alrey paid for. more than 400,000 migrant workers who work in city and send money home to families in Philippines and Indonesia also usually have contracts providing m pass home.

But saving up eugh to pack up and build a new life elsewhere may be nearly impossible for most living in a city where buying an apartment costs an aver of nearly $32,000 per square meter and median monthly w is 18,200 Hong Kong dollars ($2,348).

It would cost between 10,000-15,000 pounds ($13,000-$19,000) for a family of three to relocate to Britain, including visas, flights, ground transport and deposits to rent an apartment, said Evgeny Pavlov, managing director for Mann’s Solutions, an immigration law firm based in Britain.

That's excluding costs to move household goods.

Relocation inquiries to Pavlov's firm have grown by five to six times in past two months. Most were from young professionals, entrepreneurs or investors, he said.

increase coincided with enactment of security law, imposed by Beijing after mass protests that began last year, triggered by proposed extrition legislation that could have resulted in Hong Kong people facing trial in mainland Chinese courts.

bill eventually was withdrawn after demonstrations escalated with demands for more democracy and government accountability, sometimes turning violent.

May Cheung, a divorcee in her 50s with two grown children, also dreams of moving away, to Taiwan. But since she earns just over 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,280) a month working at a church, barely eugh to get by, she is resigned to staying, but t to giving up on rights she cherishes.

She joined thousand of ors in July 1 protests against national security law and says she intends to keep demonstrating.

“What I kw about this national security law is that it makes a totalitarian government even more totalitarian,” she said. “re is freedom, you can see for yourself –- even speech is restricted.”

government says security law targets only a small number of people who eng in secessionist and subversive behavior. But it has arrested scores of people. It also criminalized popular protest slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time’ -– a phrase included in protest anm. education bureau has banned song.

Lam worries that pro-democracy speech, and even her son’s singing of song he likes so much he learned to say it in sign langu, might be considered subversive and punished. She says she plans to educate her son about issues y face.

“I believe that thought is free,” Lam said. “He may just be a child, but he has a sense of right from wrong.”

“We can’t be first to cut ourselves off, or self-censor.”