UNHCR

Hong Kong should help those in refugee limbo

6 Apr 2013

The government has been reluctant to even screen refugee applicants for genuine cases since the ordeal of handling tens of thousands of Vietnamese asylum seekers in the 1980s. They fear that to do...

4:01AM

Top court says Hong Kong must assess refugee cases independently

26 Mar 2013

The screening system is now expected to be rewritten after five judges of the Court of Final Appeal unanimously allowed a challenge by three African men. The government said the ruling would not...

2:04PM

Persecuted protected by customary international law, UNHCR says

7 Mar 2013

The principle of not sending a person to a place where he may be persecuted is "beyond doubt" customary international law, the UN refugee agency says. The United Nations High Commissioner for...

4:13AM

Number of Syrian refugees reaches one million

6 Mar 2013

The number of Syrians who have fled their country since a deadly civil conflict erupted two years ago has hit one million, the UN’s refugee agency said Wednesday.

1:37AM

Africans appeal ruling on refugees

6 Mar 2013

Three African men have taken their challenge against Hong Kong's system for vetting refugee claims to the highest court, arguing that the government must assess the applications itself rather than...

4:32AM

Hong Kong should help refugees live in dignity

5 Mar 2013

Statistics about the number of refugees in the world tend to be mind-numbing. They do not do justice to their precarious plight. A simple example does it better, such as a letter from the Office...

6:22AM

2 comments

Opinion

Alex Lo

A dangerous demagogue in our midst

4 comments

4:18AM

Jake Van Der Kamp

Ferry subsidies to push rents up further

5 comments

4:27AM

Letters to the Editor, March 1, 2013

I read with shock the news that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong is axing the HK$500 a month it currently pays out to refugees. How can this be? Is the UNHCR broke?...

3:32AM

UNHCR axes all aid for HK refugees in budget cuts

In a shock move, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong (UNHCR) has announced that it will cut all financial aid to recognised refugees living here.

4:29AM

Fairer refugee processing would benefit Hong Kong

Whether it is stories of refugee children unable to attend school, families unable to pay rent, complaints about the slow processing of asylum-seeker status or the seemingly inadequate government...

5:21AM

2 comments

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan refugees shiver at another deadly winter

Hundreds of families living in makeshift shelters around the Afghan capital collected blankets, charcoal and other supplies as authorities struggle to avoid a repeat of last winter’s deaths.

9:38PM

Hong Kong's do-little policy on refugees must end

The government's obdurate refusal to grant any concessions in its treatment of a very small number of legitimate refugees has become a festering wound in its desire for Hong Kong to live up to its...

3:17AM

Adopting refugee convention would not be a slippery slope for Hong Kong

Imagine looking out over the Shenzhen River and seeing thousands of people at the border, trying to get into Hong Kong. Many, if not most, have been persecuted, because of their religion, or their...

3:09AM