Letters | How Hong Kong tells real refugees from economic migrants

The system provides a safeguard against abuse and ensures only those with a genuine fear of persecution are given protection

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Under Hong Kong’s unified screening mechanism, individuals can lodge a claim to be considered by the Immigration Department. This allows the government to ensure that people are not deported to places where they could be harmed. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 1:00pm, 26 Oct 2018Updated: 12:10pm, 21 Mar 2019

The widespread coverage of “fake refugees” in Hong Kong raises the question: do we understand enough about those in need of international refugee protection, and the process of identifying refugees in Hong Kong?

Traditionally, the practice of identifying refugees, known as “refugee status determination”, is undertaken either by a government or by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This is usually determined by whether a country has signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, the international legal instrument that defines international refugee law, and who falls within the refugee definition. While Hong Kong is not a signatory to the convention, it has a unique hybrid system to screen people for protection considerations.

UNHCR has been in Hong Kong since 1952 and opened an office here in 1979, when it was requested by authorities to conduct status determination for everyone seeking refugee protection in its territory.

However on March 3, 2014, Hong Kong took ownership of reviewing protection claims when it launched a unified screening mechanism to assess whether people would be at risk upon return to their home country. UNHCR now remains in Hong Kong in a supporting role to the authorities.

A Canadian immigration officer interviews a Vietnamese family at a refugee camp in Sham Shui Po in February 1979. The UNHCR established its Hong Kong office that year. Photo: C.Y. Yu

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | How Hong Kong tells real refugees from economic migrants

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The system provides a safeguard against abuse and ensures only those with a genuine fear of persecution are given protection

Letters | How Hong Kong tells real refugees from economic migrants

The system provides a safeguard against abuse and ensures only those with a genuine fear of persecution are given protection