'Act Now On Discrimination Against Mainlanders'

The chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Ricky Chu, says now is the time to make it illegal to discriminate against mainlanders, noting that the body has received a lot of complaints regarding such discrimination in recent years.

Chu told an RTHK programme on Wednesday that the commission has made a number of proposals to the government.

He said the proposals focus on three main aspects: people of the same ethnicity discriminating against each other, people being discriminated against on the basis of their residential status, and discrimination relating to where a person comes from, even if it's within the same country.

“In the past three years, we’ve received a lot of reports about mainlanders being discriminated against in Hong Kong. An NGO has also recently said new migrants, including children and adults, are facing a lot of discrimination at workplaces or schools,” Chu said.

“That’s why I think now is definitely the time to legislate, and we should do it as quickly as possible,” he added.

The commissioner also said he hopes the EOC would be given the power to investigate, collect evidence and initiate legal proceedings after receiving complaints.

He said, at present, the body cannot start any litigation if there are no victims to give evidence.