逾400内地孕妇赴港产子后被判监禁_时事

逾400内地孕妇赴港产子后被判监禁

Authorities here have arrested more than 400 mainland Chinese women who have traveled to give birth in the former British colony in the past year, immigration officials said, underscoring the depth of tensions between mainland Chinese and their southern neighbors over the practice.

香港特区政府入境事务处官员称，过去一年里，有关部门已经逮捕逾400名赴港产子的内地孕妇，凸显出内地与香港居民间因此事造成的紧张关系所已经相当严重。

Most of the new mothers were arrested within one to two days of giving birth, and nearly all were sentenced to jail terms of about two months, officials said.

有关官员称，大多数新妈妈都在产子一到两天后被拘捕，几乎所有人都被判处两个月左右的监禁。

Giving birth in Hong Kong, which operates under a separate legal system, has emerged in recent years as a popular option for mainland Chinese women seeking access to the city's advanced health and education systems for their children, who gain the automatic right to reside in Hong Kong if they're born there.

香港实行的是不同于大陆的一套政治制度。近年来，赴港产子已经成为颇受内地妇女欢迎的一种选择。这些妇女希望自己的孩子能够利用香港先进的医疗卫生和教育体系。在香港出生的孩子可以自动获得香港居留权。

However, 'birth tourists' are bitterly resented by many locals, who argue the women pose a threat to the city's health and education resources. In 2010, among some 88,000 babies born in Hong Kong, about 45% were born to mainland women.