Letters | Hong Kong asylum seekers are not behind any crime wave: the fearmongering must stop

Crime statistics belie the notion, often fed by media reports, that asylum seekers are contributing to a wave of violence

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Police take away a man, believed to be South Asian, after he and an accomplice tried to rob a mainland Chinese tourist of a rucksack containing HK$80,000. Some Hong Kong media play up arrests of asylum seekers to feed the notion that they are a risk to society, even though crime rates among them are comparatively much lower. Photo: Facebook

Published: 1:00pm, 7 Feb 2019Updated: 1:00pm, 7 Feb 2019

The crime statistics for 2018 issued by the Hong Kong Police Force (“Hong Kong crime rate lowest in 48 years”, January 29) have shown the city to be a peaceful society with criminal activity well under control. The overall crime rate has decreased since 2017 and provides a welcome fact check on the social situation of asylum seekers in Hong Kong, compared to that painted by some politicians and parts of the media.

The government has continued to overplay the build-up of asylum seekers in Hong Kong over the past few years in order to introduce tough measures to control the influx of so called “fake refugees” who, some say, are only here to take advantage of our humanitarian assistance while looking for illegal work. A draconian campaign to introduce detention camps has been suggested by some legislators as a solution to the problem.

One of the prime motivations for such action has been the claim that non-ethnic-Chinese asylum seekers have been engaging in a wave of crime and violence that is getting out of control and causing social disruption. One daily Chinese newspaper takes upon itself the task of reporting each occasion an asylum seeker, or recognizance (No 8) form holder, is arrested, in order to build up the myth that South Asian asylum seekers are a serious risk to society and should be held in a secure place.

Well, now that the crime statistics are available, a different picture has emerged. In 2018, at least 25 per cent fewer non-ethnic-Chinese recognizance form holders were arrested than in 2017, and this represents less than 4 per cent of the total number of persons arrested for criminal offences in 2018. This hardly constitutes a crime wave, and yet it seems some people take more notice of who is committing the crime than the crime itself.

Let’s make sure we are in possession of the full facts before stigmatising one section of our community and taking drastic actions that could seriously affect their lives.