Smuggled Children Ask Amnesty in Hong Kong

HONG KONG —  Hundreds of children smuggled into Hong Kong from China lined up at an immigration office Tuesday to register during a one-day government amnesty.

Officials said 300 children, in the British colony illegally but whose parents are legal residents, registered before deadline.

The children, all under 14, will be required to go to Shenzhen, a Chinese border town near Hong Kong, where special arrangements had been made for them to obtain exit permits.

Some parents pay smugglers known as “snakeheads” up to $2,500 to sneak children into Hong Kong. Most were brought in speedboats or fishing vessels on often hazardous night journeys to join parents who had emigrated to Hong Kong earlier.