Archive

By Year

Life lessons from a different classroom

Mar 21st, 2021 | Food, Media, Personal Experiences | Comment

Crowdfunding campaign for a new centre

Mar 18th, 2021 | RU updates, programs, events | Comment

Refugee Union is the only registered refugee-led society in Hong Kong. We have 1000+ members from 30 countries, including 200+ babies and children. Our services are limited by the donations we receive. We are entirely dependent on residents’ support as we are prohibited from working under threat of 15 months in prison. Our society receives no government, institutional or corporate support. The government provides us with HK$ 3200 for rent, food, utilities and transport monthly.

Since 2014 we enjoyed a free office space in Sai Ying Pun which many of you visited. Then Covid-19 struck and our fortune changed!

Soon we will be homeless, so we humbly seek your financial assistance to secure a warehouse in Lai Chi Kok with a budget of HK$ 10,000 a month.

https://go.sparkraise.com/refugee-union-new-centre

Drink For Justice – 17 April 2021 @Bella Lee

Mar 18th, 2021 | RU updates, programs, events | Comment

Let’s overcome social and ethnic divides! Join us to make new friends and promote genuine solidarity while drinking for justice

After a long and unfortunate hiatus, Drink For Justice returns to celebrate a joyful get together

Meet us for an evening of laughs, music, games and a free-flow of wine, beer and special cocktails! Let’s overcome social and ethnic divides, make new friends and promote genuine solidarity one drink at the time

Bring your friends and join us to the most meaningful free-flow event in town. Proceeds will go towards supporting the Refugee Union move to a new Community Centre

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/drink-for-justice-tickets-130637800177

We are most grateful to our charity partners

Mar 13th, 2021 | Food, Health, RU Opinion, RU updates, programs, events | Comment

We are grateful to our charity partners for the awesome support offered to our members who struggle below the poverty line with insufficient welfare and no right to work

We could not provide our service to refugees without your assistance – Thank you

The Amber Foundation

Hands on Hong Kong

Foodlink

Redress

Grassroots Future

Bliss & Bless

Rebook

The Zubin Foundation

Crafty Charity Shop

Sparkraise

Sunshine Action

Feeding Hong Kong

Soap Cycling

… and more!

February Roundup

Mar 1st, 2021 | Advocacy | Comment

Refugee Union was founded in 2014 with visions to safeguard refugee rights. Since day one, we have been organising diversified programmes with our community partners to improve the well-being and prospect of our members who are asylum seekers and refugees stranded in Hong Kong.

Activities Happened in Our Centre

It is Lunar New Year this February. We wish everyone happiness, prosperity and success in the Year of Ox.

Cover Photo

This month we had a number of activities organised in our centre.

On 1 February, we were thrilled to have HandsOn Hong Kong visiting us and delivering Lunar New Year care packages to refugee families. Thank you very much for your continued support!

HandsOnHK

On 8 February, we were honoured to have Ms. Heather Li holding a breastfeeding consultation session for refugee mothers. Thank you for the useful information and we have learned a lot from you.

Heather Li

On 24 February, we were delighted to have volunteers from Grassroots Future teaching our members crochet and craft. Thank you for bringing us these interesting and educational activities. We all had a fun afternoon.

Grassroots

On 28 February, we were thankful to a group of Hong Kong alumni from The Bishop Strachan School at Toronto, Canada for doing a charity walk for our centre. Your care and support mean a lot to us.

Charity Walk

This month we also hosted students from The University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University. We enjoyed having intellectual discussion with all these bright minded young people. We look forward to collaborating with you soon.

Uni

Donations Keep Going

This month we received donations of wide-ranging items, which include but not limited to daily necessities and personal protective equipment such as surgical masks and hand sanitisers.

We would like to take this opportunity expressing our heartfelt gratitude to all Donors for their kind-hearted and generous support. As always, we promise to deliver all donations we received to our members who are in need.

End

Please stay tuned to our official website and social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for the updates. You are also welcome to contact us by visiting our office or sending us an email at info@refugeeunion.org should you have any enquiry.

My family needs your help

Feb 24th, 2021 | Advocacy, Personal Experiences, Refugee Community, RU updates, programs, events, Welfare | Comment

“When the choice of escaping to Hong Kong came along, it seemed like a dream” recalls Sharon. But several years later she is bitterly disappointed. The mother fled her country due to unspeakable violence suffered by one of her children. A professional, but also a widow, the authorities failed to protect her from powerful abusers determined to shut her mouth – one way or another.

Over the past years Sharon learned that asylum protection in Hong Kong is granted to less than 1% of claimants, the few who meet unrealistically high standards of proof. But the ways of the world are complex and its wicked currents sweep away many unable to document their plunge.

With an inhumane pincer movement, HK government oppresses refugees with insufficient welfare as well as stiff jail terms with the stated goal of “avoiding a magnet effect” as if slapping every student in class will prevent scoundrels from joining! Frankly that turns refugees into beggars. We don’t have enough money for rent and food. We are provide no clothes, shoes, hygiene products (shaving cream, sanitary pads and diapers for example), glasses, household items and phones. We are given one roll of toilet paper a month…

We need your help not because we are unfit to make a living or lazy, but because we sought asylum in #hongkong and are condemned to live in poverty with one hand tied behind our back.

We have been unable to open a society’s bank account, so donations are channeled through “Drink For Justice”, a registered charity that disburses financial aid to refugee families.

You donation will make a tangible difference in our life. You are welcome to visit our centre to learn more and perhaps sponsor a refugee family to learn what is needed and how money is spent.

Please WhatsApp 98287176 and share with your friends. Thank you

Click here for PDF file

January Roundup

Jan 31st, 2021 | Advocacy | Comment

Refugee Union was founded in 2014 with the vision to safeguard the rights and protection of the asylum seekers and refugees stranded in Hong Kong. Since day one, we have been working closely with our partners in the community and organising diversified programmes to improve the well-being of our members.

Cover Photo

New Activities Mark the Beginning of a New Year

At the beginning of 2021, this month we are thrilled to have a series of new activities happening at our centre.

We are grateful to Tegan and Grassroots Future for organising an online yoga class for our lady members, helping us to relax our body and refresh our mind.

Yoga Class

We are also thankful to HandsOn Hong Kong for preparing New Year Care Packages, which contain utilities and personal protective equipment, for our members.

Hands On Hong Kong

Donations Keep Going

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all our Donors for lending us a helping hand. This month we received donations of wide-ranging items, which include but not limited to necessities, furniture and personal protective equipment such as surgical masks and hand sanitisers.

Donation

As always, we promise to deliver all donations we received to our members who are in need. Thank you very much for all your generous support!

Please stay tuned to our official website and social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for the updates, and feel free to contact us by visiting our office or sending us an email at info@refugeeunion.org should you have any enquiry.

We, asylum-seekers and refugees in Hong Kong, are officially called “claimants” according to the Immigration Department’s Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) implemented to assess asylum claims in the city. All asylum-seekers are banned from working under Section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance.

However, substantiated claimants (i.e. recognized refugees) may apply for a temporary six-month work permit issued upon the discretion of the Immigration Department. This applies to very few refugees as only 272 cases were substantiated (i.e. recognized) by the Immigration Department among 24,447 USM claims determined between 2009 and September 2021. The mathematical success rate is: 1.11%

The Government provides us with insufficient assistance, namely: $1500 rent, $1200 food coupons, $300 utilities and $200 transportation – for a total of HK$ 3,200 per month. There has been no increase since January 2014. The Government claims it is sufficient to prevent refugees from working. We call this a big lie because there is no provision for clothes, shoes, haircuts, SIM cards, shaving cream, lady products, baby products, cleaning products or toilet paper – items reasonably considered essential.

What about the big expenses everyone pays in Hong Kong? Rent and rental deposits for example. The cheapest, windowless, 10 m², rundown, subdivided room costs $4000. Two refugees can share a room but they only receive $3000 for rent. The Refugee Union helps us with its limited resources. It is the only group that hands out cash to refugees. Now you can help us directly by donating cash to “Drink For Justice” – a registered charity that pass 100% of your donations to us.

Please click this link to donate: https://bit.ly/3qYFq5u

This Press Release states the government position: “The Government implemented the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) in March 2014 to screen non-refoulement claims on all applicable grounds in one go. The United Nations’ Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol have never applied to Hong Kong, and hence illegal immigrants seeking non-refoulement in Hong Kong will not be treated as “asylum seekers” or “refugees”. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government maintains a firm policy of not granting asylum and not determining or recognising refugee status of any person. Regardless of the outcome of their torture/non-refoulement claims, claimants are not permitted to remain legally in Hong Kong. If their claims are rejected, the Immigration Department (ImmD) will accordingly remove them to their countries of origin.” (20 May 2020)

Immigration data was collected from: https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/facts/enforcement.html