New U.K. Visa Scheme Would Allow 5.4 Million People To Escape Hong Kong

At the end of this month, the U.K. will officially introduce a new visa option that would give 5.4 million Hongkongers—or a little more than 70 percent of the territory’s population—the ability to live and work in the U.K.

President Joe Biden, who took office yesterday and has already released a flurry of executive orders, should immediately follow the U.K.’s lead and offer visas to the roughly 7.5 million citizens of Hong Kong who have been crushed by Chinese intrusion that has permeated every corner of their once-free society.

The BBC reports that “the scheme is open to Hong Kong residents who claimed British National (Overseas), or BNO, status before the handover in 1997. A total of 2.9 million people registered and so can apply for the new visa.”

“Their dependants—an additional two-and-a-half million people—are also eligible to travel with them,” notes the BBC. Prior to this, people with BNO status could come to the U.K. for up to six month