Extra immigration staff to be deployed over Easter

The Immigration Department on Tuesday said staffing levels will be boosted to handle an expected surge in cross-boundary travel during the upcoming Easter and Ching Ming holidays. In a statement, authorities said they estimate that around 6.44 million people will pass through Hong Kong’s sea, land and air control points. Of these, about 5.43 million are expected to use land boundary control points, according to projections made in consultation with the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection and other mainland agencies. Passenger traffic at land crossings is expected to peak on Good Friday and the day after Easter Monday, with about 712,000 and 671,000 travellers respectively. The Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay control points are forecast to be busy, handling an estimated daily average of 240,000, 220,000 and 184,000 people respectively. "To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic during the festive period, the Immigration Department has minimised leave for frontline officers for flexible deployment and operation of additional counters, temporary counters and channels," it said. "Additional security guards will also be deployed to provide crowd management support." The department said a joint command centre will be set up at the Lo Wu control point, bringing together immigration, police, customs and MTR representatives to coordinate real-time responses. Immigration officials added that they will maintain close communication with mainland authorities to ensure smooth passenger flow and implement traffic diversion measures as needed. Edited by Thomas McAlinden