bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Christy Choi

The plight of asylum seekers was laid out in the legislature yesterday amid fresh calls to grant them access to work, educational opportunities and more government help.
Lawmakers heard how thousands of refugees languished in a city of affluence because current regulations prevented them from being self-sufficient.
The Social Welfare Department said there was room to improve policies, but that the city also needed to prevent a "magnet" effect that would draw in more asylum seekers.
Non-governmental organisations, lawyers, religious figures and refugees spoke up for their cause in front of the Legislative Council panel on welfare services.
"Malaysia, like Hong Kong, is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention, but they are preparing to allow asylum seekers to work and will train them as well," said Professor Simon Young Ngai-man, former director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong.
China has ratified the convention but has not extended the ratification to the city.
Julee Allen, manager of Christian Action's humanitarian services department, said refugees lived "on a razor's edge between destitution and not destitution".
Young and Allen, along with representatives from the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre, Vision First, The Vine Church, human rights-focused law practice Barnes & Daly, and the Hong Kong Refugee Concern Network, appealed for the government to meet the basic needs of asylum seekers according to international standards.
They cited best practices in other countries and slammed policies in Hong Kong as inadequate and illegal.
The International Social Service (ISS), an NGO commissioned by the department that has been found wanting by civil society organisations, said its hands were tied by decisions made by the department and Security Bureau.
The ISS provides each asylum seeker with HK$1,200 in housing allowance, HK$1,000 worth of groceries a month and a small travel allowance. The department said the service was supposed to help asylum seekers find housing.
Most refugees who testified at the meeting said they often found themselves unable to rent proper accommodation as the ISS did not provide a loan to pay initial rental deposits required by landlords.
"We are sacrificing the mental health and well-being of 5,000 people in order for seven million of us to keep our wealth," Pastor Tony Reed of The Vine Church said. "We must reject such a morally bankrupt policy."
Outside the Legco building, Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said to more than 100 asylum seekers: "As a signatory of the UN treaty [on human rights], we are obligated to provide the basic needs of those who face persecution and come to Hong Kong as a transition. Your situation is totally unacceptable and unbearable."
Cheung is tabling a motion to undertake a thorough review of the welfare system for asylum seekers.
 


Asylum seekers ask Legco for access to work, education, healthcare

Ameena Butt, seven, joins the protest outside Legco. Her father fled Pakistan after switching to Christianity in 2008. Photo: Felix Wong

Asylum seekers can't afford to fall ill in Hong Kong

For Habibur Rahman (in yellow) and his children, John (in black), and Mohamed Sultan (in white), falling ill here will leave them reeling from their medical bills. Photo: May Tse

Number of cases for non-eligible person (NEP)

Asylum seeker fights Education Bureau's ban on son attending kindergarten

The boy's father says his son cannot legally be denied access to education. Photo: David Wong

Asylum seekers want better screening from Immigration Department

Hundreds of asylum seekers and torture claimants marched from Central to the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai yesterday to protest against what they see as the government’s failed screening process. Photo: May Tse

News

Hong Kong