Legco pair seek to put refugees on agenda
Lawmakers James To Kun-sun and Emily Lau Wai-hing intend to raise the rights of refugees and asylum seekers before Legislative Council panels.
Both were in Geneva last month for the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights hearings on China, Hong Kong and Macau, where UN experts expressed concern about the lack of a refugee law in Hong Kong.
The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that hundreds of people, including families with children, were living in impoverished conditions awaiting the screening of their applications for refugee status.
Democratic Party lawmaker Mr To said that while the number of asylum seekers in Hong Kong was not large, the government should enact a law regarding political refugees as a matter of principle.
'I will contact the government to see what reservations it has about implementing the UN refugee convention, which even China has signed but Hong Kong has not,' he said.
'I wonder if it is concerned whether asylum seekers from the mainland would be regarded as legitimate asylum seekers if they escape to Hong Kong.'
Frontier legislator Ms Lau said Legco would follow up on the issue in a home affairs panel meeting, but suggested that a separate item be put on the security panel agenda.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said the issue had been raised several times by various UN committees. He expected the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child would comment on the issue during its forthcoming hearings.
Sze Lai-shan, of the Society for Community Organisation, said that children of asylum seekers and refugees must be given access to education in Hong Kong.
The living conditions of some of these families reflected badly on the city, she said.
