Hong Kong Refugee Crisis is a Ticking Time Bomb

Jan 6th, 2016 | Advocacy, Immigration, Opinion, Refugee Community, Welfare | Comment

To be a refugee in Hong Kong is one of the worst decisions one can ever make in life. Why one may choose to seek refuge in Hong Kong might be a matter of life and death. Most of the times options are also limited and the majority of refugees have no choice about where to seek asylum. Yet many will agree with me that it’s not easy to manage as a refugee in Asia’s World City.

In a bid to control and select the flow of travelers into Hong Kong, the Government has put into place a very strict and rigid immigration policy that ensures that only those visitors who are well endowed with resources are welcomed in. As such it’s a city for the rich only. And understandably the Hong Kong Immigration Department aims to prevent undesirable visitors from entering. In this they have been successful.

On one hand we are here, arguably demonstrating failures of border controls. On the other, the refugees who manage to get into Hong Kong find themselves between a rock and a hard place. We must contend with a harsh environment that depicts us as illegal immigrants who should be removed as soon as possible. It’s important to note that refugees cannot lodge an asylum claim while their visitor visa is still valid – which forces us to overstay and thus commit an offense. The Immigration Department will turn you away with firm instructions to come back after your visa expired.

The Government thus turns refugees in to overstayers by forcing us to break the law and become illegal. The law is thereafter used against us as we are branded illegal immigrants. As a consequence we are subjected to psychological torture through a Removal Order that constantly hangs over our head.

As illegal immigrants, refugees do not have legal status, nor do we enjoy many rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are stuck in limbo with no future prospects. Having no working rights forces us to lead a miserable life, of hopelessness and despair. We are made to depend on government welfare that is grossly inadequate. No surprise that many refugees resort to other means of survival to make ends meet.

We are told by the government that Hong Kong never signed the Refugee Convention. Therefore it does not have an obligation to assist refugees. Using this strategy, authorities continues to marginalize and frustrate us by ensuring that we are not economically empowered, arguably in a bid to force us to give up on our asylum claims and leave this city.

Those refugees who start a family soon realize they are condemned to a cycle of poverty that is next to impossible to break. First, parents are not financially stable to afford a decent life for their children as they are limited by what the Social Welfare Department refers to as “Humanitarian Assistance”. Secondly, children are refugees as their parents. That means they are in same category and cannot enjoy equal rights as resident children.

The term “Humanitarian Assistance” is a euphemism used to avoid taking responsibility for (and arguably punish) refugees criminalized for earning a living. The cycle repeats itself for the refugee family as the children follow the same route as their parents through the humanitarian assistance program that fails to meet their basic needs.

What will happen to these families who continue to live in abject poverty?

The government is courting disaster. Truth be told, the chickens will eventually come home to roost. The next generation of Hong Kong-born refugees is highly disadvantaged and marginalized. It will eventually form a section of society that cannot support itself. They will resort to other means of survival to make ends meet.

It appears that Hong Kong is unwilling to care for, nor does it empower refugees to compete effectively for opportunities in this competitive city. The government and its policy-makers have continuously ignored and brushed aside the truth, which one day will come back to haunt them. The neglected children may one day become an even greater social problem than their parents.

A practical example which can provide a good case study for Hong Kong is given by the French riots and the tangle of poverty and lack of security in the suburbs of Paris. It is a global world after all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR WISHES TO ALL REFUGEES AND SUPPORTERS

Dec 31st, 2015 | Advocacy, Opinion, Refugee Community, Welfare | Comment

Greetings Refugees and Supporters,

My name is Cartier Dieodo and I have been a refugee in Hong Kong for over 10 years, living in misery with my family, because Hong Kong Government does not allow me to work. I am a coordinator of the Refugee Union and will be a regular contributor of blogs to this website.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish you all a happy new year! Here we are about to end the year. Firstly we need to give glory to God, as we are still alive and healthy. I think also that we need to ask several question concerning the past year and make some resolutions for the next, as many people do.

What was great this year?

2015 was definitely a great year as we achieved some goals: the first year of the Refugee Union; launching this website to reach supporters locally and internationally; conducting dozens of interviews with journalist, TV reports and university students; closing the refugee slums; receiving food coupons, instead of rubbish food collections; getting some kindergarten support, and publicizing the Zero Percent Acceptance Rate with the media and the public.

It was something, but it was not enough.

Are we not supposed get better support than this as refugees? How do we rent rooms for 1500$ and eat three times a day with 1200$ a month (or 40$ a day)? How do we school our children without full financial assistance if not allowed to work? Why does Hong Kong recognize so few refugees, or 37 of almost 20,000 asylum claims since 1992? How can Hong Kong get away with such shameful treatment of refugees? Why do 10,000 refugees live in misery and destitution in Hong Kong?

If the results were positive, why and who was behind that motivation?
What were the main strategies and goals in 2015?
How do we improve our strategies and goals in 2016?

There is experience growing in our Union and it is our responsibility to ask ourselves: What went well? What went wrong? How can we make it better by changing strategy? How do we organize more action from Refugee Union members? How do we reach out to more supporters in Hong Kong?

Let us come together for a solution that satisfies all members and brings more powerful results to our community. We already know that many organizations, schools, companies and people want to know more about our struggle and are offering their generous support. We are most thankful to them all.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we must all stand as Brother’s Keepers to one another. United we can achieve much more. May 2016 be the year of determination, a year of communication, of love, respect, support and caring. May peace and success shine in 2016!

Happy new year and remain bless.

One Love

Refugee Union Response to HKSAR Report to UN Committee On Convention Against Torture

Dec 28th, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, RU Opinion, RU Report, Welfare | Comment

“HONG KONG HOLDS REFUGEES IN A STATE OF CONTEMPT”

On 17 November 2015, the Permanent Secretary for Security, Joshua Law, delivered the Hong Kong Government’s report to the United Nations’ Committee Against Torture, in Geneva Switzerland. In our view, it was a narrow and biased self-appraisal that conspicuously overlooked widespread criticism and growing concerns about the fairness of the city’s asylum process.

Mr. Law articulated a very good case on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong, stating that “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has always strived to protect human rights and the requirements and commitments under the Convention against Torture … and other international human rights instruments”.

Further, he surprisingly assured the Committee that Hong Kong “exceeded the requirements under Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture.” The report by Mr. Law highlighted another achievement: the provision of “humanitarian assistance to all the claimants (accommodation, food, clothing and other basic necessities, transportation and utilities allowances, medical services and education for minors).”

The Refugee Union maintains that the report is not only misleading, but also dishonest. It demonstrates to what length the Government is willing to go to project an image of a perfect “John be good” with the international community that has little direct knowledge or experience of asylum in this city. It is indeed disappointing that the Government’s rosy picture is entirely disconnected from reality, measured according to unpublished standards and unrated by agencies charged with investigating government performance.

Since the USM was launched in March 2014, it has failed to address the shortcomings it arguably intended to fix. The mechanism is no better at protecting refugees than previous systems deployed since 1992, when Hong Kong signed the UN Torture.

Convention – in twenty-three years Hong Kong substantiated 37 of over 18,000 asylum claims. The abysmal acceptance rate speaks volumes about the contempt in which refugees are held.

The politics behind USM have instead been successful in promoting the divisive terminology of “fake/genuine” refugees which has been regrettably manipulated by the media into public discourse. Rather than honestly analyzing its own failures and weakness, the Government has vigorously engaged in a massive propaganda to discredit refugees in the eyes and minds of the local community.

This strategy however might not be convincing for everyone. In fact, many Hong Kong citizens have become increasingly curious and interested in refugees and are asking very relevant questions. The Refugee Union has been interviewed hundreds of times especially by graduate students who find it perplexing how refugees are treated. We are asked: Why is the acceptance rate so low? Why are you banned from working? How do you support yourself with inadequate welfare? How does it feel to live such a hard life? How do you survive without hope for the future?

The Security Bureau through its periodic reports to Legco frequently emphasizes that the Government of Hong Kong does not have a system in place to screen refugees, since it is not party to the UN Refugee Convention. Therefore the Government is not obliged to recognize refugees, nor does it integrate them into society. Instead they should be removed from Hong Kong as soon as practicable. This is very confusing. On the one hand, the Government says it does not have a screening system in place, but on the other, it says that the USM performs such a role. It is no wonder that more and more journalism students are approaching refugees striving to make sense of harmful policies and the reality they witness through speaking to refugees.

The Government report claims that Hong Kong exceeds the requirements of the UN Torture Convention without specifying exactly what it does to meet the needs of refugees. To start, the welfare provided is grossly inadequate and can hardly sustain us. With an unrealistic rental assistance of HK$ 1500 and food coupons worth HK$ 1200 a month, which do not meet our basic needs, how can we make ends meet? It is simply impossible to secure basic accommodation for that price in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The majority of refugees live in squalid conditions crammed together in dilapidated buildings and slums.

There is absolutely no provision for clothes/shoes among other basic necessities. However refugees are forced to sign monthly contracts with ISS-HK stating that we receive clothes and shoes from the Government. It is not surprising that many refugees are forced to resort to risky behavior to bridge the gap left intentionally open by Government failure.

Some refugees provide cheap labor to the underground economy, others might push drugs, engage in prostitution, steal, beg and lie to survive under harsh and prohibited conditions. It is shameful that refugees resort to such survival strategies. But what other options are available to us? It is dishonest for the Government to present such a polished self-satisfying report when it actually fails to safeguard the health and wellbeing of eleven thousand refugees who live in abject destitution.

Education poses another challenge for refugees. The system requires parents to pay schools fees in advance each month before being partially refunded by the Education Bureau. Where are parents expected to obtain this money upfront? Public funding does not include the waver of kindergarten costs, an essential step for children to learn Cantonese. Is this another measure devised to force our social isolation?

Refugees do not enjoy basic human rights as the Government assures the United Nations. In fact, we suffer high levels of discrimination, marginalization and harassment. The Refugee Union strongly objects to the Government assertion that it exceeds its responsibilities in protecting refugees. We hereby invite Committee members to travel unofficially to Hong Kong to gather first-hand data.

The Government’s report to the UN Committee against Torture leaves a bitter taste.

28 December 2015. Refugee sits in a cubicle paid by ISS-HK in an abandoned chicken farm in Lam Tei.

Refugee Union shelters homeless resident family

Dec 24th, 2015 | Advocacy, Personal Experiences, Refugee Community, Welfare | Comment

I am an organizer of the Refugee Union. Two weeks ago my phone rang late in the evening. I was startled as it was a bit late at night. Normally after 8 pm my phone is rather quiet, except for the WhatsApp group chats that streams in busily through out the evening into the late night.

It was our member David, “Brother please help! I am with a family that is homeless and has nowhere to sleep. It includes three small children and four adults. It’s winter, brother! The landlord threw them out in the street, but it’s very cold outside! Can I send them to the Refugee Union?”

“What?” I remarked incredulous. David pressed on persuasively, “Can the Union help them stay in our shelter just for a few days as they look for a home? I am concerned because of the young children.” I didn’t hesitate, “Yes. Sure … We can accommodate them for a few days as they sort things out.”

As the message sank into my mind the matter brought me face to face with a reality that members of the refugee community go through in their day to day life in Hong Kong. The only difference is that today it was a different group of people , these are Hong Kong residents. I was deeply touched by that conversation: here are refugees extending a helping hand to residents!

It was almost midnight and a large homeless family was coming over. I imagined that the young children were cold and desperate for a warm and safe environment to sleep. The family was in a McDonald’s restaurant where they sought shelter after they were thrown out into the cold night by their landlord. The parents didn’t have many options as social services are quiet slow to say the least.

That night, David had gone to a McDonald’s for a late night snack as it was too late to cook. As he enjoyed a burger, he overheard one of the kids asking his mum when they could return home, because they were uncomfortable sleeping on plastic benches. He paid attention to the unfolding scene as the kids pressed the parents to go home.

After carefully listening to the conversation, it dawned on David that he was witnessing a desperate situation. It was a conversation that any parent would dread to have with their children. And David has two young ones of his own. On inquiry, the mother explained that they had been thrown into the streets the previous night. She went on to say that without money for rent, they had slept at McDonald’s, where they hoped not to be turned away.

When they arrived at our office, I gave them the access code to the shelter and showed them our modest facilities. The following morning they were very happy and grateful that the Union had offered them a place to sleep. They were surprised and shocked that refugees could help other people – even Hong Kong residents!

For them David was god-sent as they had hit rock bottom. It has now been two weeks since we sheltered them. They have settled down very comfortably. However, they lack privacy and space as large family. This is because our members actively frequent the office throughout the day and late at night. But the family doesn’t mind. They feel welcome by our community.

During our Christmas Party we celebrated together as one family. We shared gifts, food and drinks as one people struggling to survive in Hong Kong. They shared the daily donations we receive from our generous supporters. At the Refugee Union there is always extra food and warmth for people struggling, irrespective of social or immigration status. Hardship sometimes draws people closer than blood.

A month ago Refugee Union celebrated its first anniversary as a registered society. It was a great moment of as members celebrate a union that has given them identity and a sense of belonging in a society that has generally turned its back on us.

Since its formation, the RU had one ambitious mandate: to safeguard the rights of the refugees. Armed with this mission it set sail despite considerable odds to achieve its objective: to empower members to selflessly assist each other and actively participate in all matters relating to the life of refugees and the development of the asylum sphere in Hong Kong according to the highest standards of human rights. We certainly had our work cut out.

One year down the line the first score card is out and we believe it is a positive one. We offered the refugee community a platform to fearlessly tackle the problems they face. The RU has engaged with the various government and societal bodies, including many universities and schools. RU has given numerous interviews to students who have taken a keen interest in our distressed lives. At our office new collaborations and partnerships have been established for the benefit of our community.

We have since received a surprising number of requests from schools, colleges and universities seeking to engage and partner with the refugee community. Individuals as well as organizations both local and international have shown considerable interest in our cause. These partnerships has translated into much needed support that has made us feel part and parcel of broader Hong Kong community.

In our first year, we have enjoyed an upward trajectory of support and acceptance, particularly in the aftermaths of the European refugee crisis. This festive season we have been honored by generous invitations to grace Christmas parties where food, drinks, gifts and cheer were in abundance. Our children enjoyed receiving many presents from various NGOs and schools who ensured they did not miss out on the festivity.

We sincerely thank all those who made us smile through way of donations, gifts as well as best wishes – THANK YOU.

Although refugees remain deeply marginalized and discriminated against we still soldier on with the hope that the authorities will adopt more thoughtful and considerate policies in managing the challenge of asylum with due consideration of the international instrument that are binding on Hong Kong SAR.

As we continue to wait for change, the Refugee Union will strengthen its struggle for respect and dignity for all persons in a refugee-like situation.