HK Government Welcomes UN's Positive ICERD Concluding Observations

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government welcomed the positive concluding observations of the U.N. Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said Saturday.

The spokesman said, "The Committee welcomed our detailed and comprehensive report and the inclusion of questions in the 2001 Population Census that would help determine the ethnic and racial composition of Hong Kong."

"It also commended the extensive consultation with civil society in the preparation of our report, and the work that we and non-governmental organizations are doing to address some of the problems of the ethnic minorities," he added.

This is the first report by the HKASR submitted under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

The spokesman said, "We note the Committee's concern in regard to the lack of legislation against racial discrimination. As the Committee has acknowledged, we are currently reviewing the position with a view to determining the way forward in early 2002. "

The concluding observations issued by the Committee are on China including Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions. They were issued following the Committee's hearing in Geneva, on July 31 and August 1.

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