Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of people from Hong Kong who will not be eligible to apply for the Government's proposed bespoke immigration route for British Nationals (Overseas) passport holders but whose rights and freedoms remain threatened by the introduction of new national security legislation in Hong Kong.

As the Foreign Secretary said in Parliament on 1 July, we constantly assess the numbers of those expected to take up the bespoke immigration route which we will put in place for British Nationals (Overseas) (BN(O)s) and their dependants. We estimate that there are up to 2.9 million status holders eligible for BN(O) passports. Of those, there are around 350,000 passport holders.

We recognise that there will be people from Hong Kong who do not qualify for these new arrangements. The Foreign Secretary is coordinating closely with international partners, particularly those with specific and close relationships with Hong Kong, to discuss what support they might provide.

When it comes to Hong Kong, the UK will honour its historic responsibilities. We will continue to bring together our international partners, to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violations of their freedoms, and to hold China to its obligations, assumed under international law.