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■歐洲上月受大風雪影響，英國倫敦希思羅機場航班大受影響，不少旅客 (包括香港居民學生等)被迫滯留。 資料圖片
歐洲上月受大風雪侵襲，倫敦希思羅機場幾乎癱瘓，大批本港留英學生及旅遊人士滯留倫敦。保安局副局長黎棟國表示，當機場回復正常運作後，如未能疏導學生，政府會安排包機，解決問題。港人受困倫敦，飢寒交迫、求助無門，政府應盡快提供必要的協助，給予受影響港人妥善照顧。不過，由於此次並非遭遇關乎人身安全的危難情況，為慎用公帑起見，不宜由政府包機接載滯留港人，以免包機安排被濫用。政府應制定一套包機接載滯留海外港人的準則，確保包機合情合理、用得其所。
社會上有意見要求，政府派包機接載滯留倫敦的學生。縱觀世界各國，安排包機必須有一定準則，不會隨便動用，最基本的理由就是國民在海外遇上戰爭、動亂或人身安全面臨危險的情況，例如2008年泰國紅衫軍暴亂及去年菲律賓人質事件，特區政府都動用包機緊急接返港人。
包機使用的是公帑，甚麼情況下需要啟動包機，特區政府應制定清晰的準則。如果不問情況輕重緩急，動輒要求政府包機，任意使用公帑，恐怕納稅人未必同意。即使政府肯包機接人，按用者自付原則，亦應向搭乘者收取必要費用。今次港人在倫敦滯留只因惡劣天氣而起，不存在生命威脅，再者其他國家和地區並無計劃採用包機接載國民，因此今次本港是否需要安排包機，政府宜三思而後行。
Provide utmost assistance but be prudent in sending a charter flight
The snowstorm that attacked Europe last month almost paralyzed the Heathrow airport and a large number of Hong Kong people studying or travelling in the UK were stranded in London. Under Secretary for Security TK Lai said that if the situation did not improve and the students could not return home when the airport resumed normal operation, the Hong Kong government would arrange a charter flight to solve the problem. The Hong Kong people who were trapped in London were without food and shelter and there was nowhere they could seek help. The Hong Kong government should provide the necessary assistance as soon as possible to give them proper care. However, as this was not a situation of disaster that would put people's lives at risk, for the sake of proper use of public funds, the government should not arrange a charter flight to bring the people home. This may prevent flight chartering from being abused in the future. The Hong Kong government should lay down criteria for sending charter flights to bring back citizens stranded overseas in order to ensure that charter flights will be used sensibly and reasonably as and when needed.
There had been public voices requesting the government to send a charter flight to London to bring the stranded students home. But as seen in other parts of the world, there are certain criteria for arranging a charter flight and such a measure cannot be used arbitrarily. The most basic requirement for a government to send a charter flight is when citizens are caught overseas in a war, riot or other situations in which personal safety may be endangered. For example, in 2008 there was the anti-government (red-shirt protesters) riot in Thailand and earlier in 2010 there was the hostage taking case in the Philippines. In these incidents, the HKSAR government did send emergency charter flights to bring Hong Kong people back home.
Sending a charter flight involves spending public fund. The HKSAR government should lay down criteria that clearly specify the circumstances in which a charter flight will be arranged. If people ask the government to send charter flights at all times without weighing the urgency and seriousness of the situation, public funds will be squandered and taxpayers will not give consent. Even if the government arranges a charter flight, under the principle of user paying the cost, passengers should be charged the necessary fees. In this recent incident, Hong Kong people were stranded in London because of the increment weather and their lives were not endangered. Not a single country or region had planned to bring their nationals home by charter flights. Therefore, it was necessary for the government to think carefully on whether or not there was a need to arrange a charter flight. ■Translation by 開明 chi.ming818@gmail.com
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