In the wake of the region’s pandemic response and political turmoil, many Hong Kongers moved to the UK because of Britain’s British National Overseas passport program, giving the youth and adults in the SAR a chance to escape Beijing’s tightening grip.

The BNO program was put into action after the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong, which many say inhibits freedoms. The route allows millions of people from Hong Kong - who applied for a type of nationality called the British National Overseas (BNO) citizenship before 1997, when the UK handed the former colony back to China - to apply to live, work and study in the UK. Family members can travel with them. After five years they can apply to stay permanently. Government statistics suggest 140,000 Hongkongers have applied to live in the UK under a new visa route.