Faced with Beijing's tightening grip on their city, more and more young Hongkongers have decided to leave to seek refuge abroad, many of them in the United Kingdom. FRANCE 24 followed Mui-Mui, a 15-year-old girl who decided to make the move, flying to London, where the local Hong Kong community continues to grow, week by week.
After the anti-government protests of 2019, which saw hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers defy the growing influence of the Chinese government on the semi-autonomous region, Beijing took matters in Hong Kong into its own hands.
On June 30, 2020, China's legislature unanimously adopted a new National Security Law for Hong Kong. On the pretext of bringing peace and stability to the former British colony after months of unrest, the law opens the way for prosecution of anyone who defies the Chinese Communist Party’s rule.
Though the law has yet to be used to sentence anyone, hundreds of opposition activists, lawmakers or ordinary protesters have been arrested under it since it came into force, with dozens refused bail and some sentenced to more than a year in prison under other laws.
This has driven thousands of Hongkongers to leave the city. For many former protesters and pro-democracy activists, leaving is a way of evading prosecution.
Hong Kong's former colonial ruler, the UK, has become a base for many fleeing Beijing's clampdown and who continue to fight from a distance for democracy in Hong Kong.
