New UNHCR head urges Hong Kong to protect refugees and asylum seekers
Commissioner calls on city to do more, but authorities balk at possible risk of system abuse
The new head of the UNHCR in Hong Kong has made an unusually forceful call for the government to take responsibility for protecting refugees in the city.
"There is no doubt that Hong Kong has the capacity and resources to do more than it's doing at the moment," Philip Karani said in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Morning Post.
Karani replaced Choosin Ngaotheppitak as head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in June.
While China is a signatory to the UN's Refugee Convention, its writ has not been extended to Hong Kong - though it has to Macau. Instead Hong Kong relies on the UNHCR to determine whether asylum seekers are granted refugee status and to resettle refugees in other countries.
The government says if the convention's provisions were applied to Hong Kong, they would be open to abuse given the city's liberal visa rules and status as an international air transport hub.
"We encourage the government to sign the [1951] Refugee Convention, which China and Macau have already signed, and to enact laws and regulations to entrench rights of refugees and asylums seekers, such as the right to work," Karani said.