Imagine yourself in the shoes of Syaheeda, a girl living in war-torn Somalia. One day you witness your entire family - parents, grandmother, and siblings - killed before your eyes. You run away as fast as your legs can take you to avoid being killed yourself. But now you're a homeless orphan.
And Syaheeda's trials were just beginning. Soon she was captured by armed militants. She was locked in a dark cell, where she was abused day after day by her captors. She was powerless to do anything about it. She was kept like a caged animal.
After three years in captivity she finally managed to escape and sneaked out of the country. She then became a refugee in a foreign land.
Around the world there are around 32.9 million refugees like Syaheeda. They cannot return home for fear that they might be abused or killed if they did. They would face persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, social affiliations, or political views.
Syaheeda finally arrived in Hong Kong to seek asylum here. Like other refugees, she was attracted by the city's reputation as a welcoming multicultural environment.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), between 1,000 and 3,000 refugees seek asylum in Hong Kong every year. Most of them come from South and Southeast Asia and Africa.
