Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki today announced the launch of the first eight Ethnic Minority Care Teams, which will underpin the services provided by the eight existing government-funded support service centres for ethnic minorities.

He made the announcement while officiating at the multicultural carnival in celebration of the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and kick-off ceremony, together with Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Chan said the Government spares no effort in building an inclusive and caring society, noting that Hong Kong has more than 300,000 ethnic minority residents and the Government offers wide-ranging support to them.

He pointed out that the Chief Executive, in his Policy Address last year, announced a series of new support measures.

Among those measures are the setting up of Ethnic Minority Care Teams and two additional support service centres for ethnic minorities.

“The Care Teams will visit Ethnic Minority households and stay in touch with them. Besides keeping them posted on the latest government information, the Care Teams will proactively find out and fulfil their needs with relevant services. If necessary, the Care Teams can also refer them to relevant government departments or organisations for follow-up,” Mr Chan explained.

He also said the Government is pressing ahead with setting up two additional support service centres for ethnic minorities, one in Kowloon Central and the other in the New Territories East, bringing the total to 10.

The two new centres, along with two more dedicated Care Teams, are expected to come into service by the end of the year.

“With 10 centres in place by then, we will be able to cover all the major districts of ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong. In those centres, ethnic minorities can enjoy holistic support, which covers orientation programmes, language and after-school tutorials, community integration workshops, youth activities, counselling services, and much more.”

The Chief Secretary also thanked the central government for its recently announced measure for non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents to apply for designated Mainland travel permits.

“With these permits, they can easily go to the Mainland for tourism or business, enjoying self-service clearance and greater clearance efficiency at Mainland control points.” 

The Home Affairs Department said District Offices of the relevant districts, Ethnic Minority Care Teams, and support service centres for ethnic minorities will carry out publicity and provide assistance in making applications.

The multicultural carnival was held after the ceremony, featuring stellar performances of different ethnic groups and game booths for the public to appreciate Hong Kong’s diverse components and learn to build a caring and inclusive community.

Mr Chan and Miss Mak then called on an ethnic minority family living in Kwai Chung to understand their daily lives and needs, and introduce the roles and services of the Ethnic Minority Care Teams.

They also visited a support service centre for ethnic minorities, the LINK Centre in Kwai Chung, to observe the activities it organises, including language classes, youth activities, drawing workshops and cooking classes.