Hong Kong's new asylum system 'harder to exploit'
Department says it will plug loopholes in the screening process but the much-criticised 28-day limit for submitting evidence will stay
The Immigration Department claims a new screening system for asylum seekers due to take effect by the end of the year will plug loopholes in the process.
But a contentious 28-day deadline for submitting supporting documents - which one academic described as "not appropriate" under a brand-new system - would not be extended.
Details of the unified approach to assessing asylum claims have yet to be revealed but the department said it would be based on the existing torture claim framework.
Under the new system, in addition to assessing torture claims, the government would also be legally obliged to consider whether claimants faced persecution, and whether they may be subjected to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment (CIDTP) when assessing applications for asylum status.
Assistant director of the department William Fung Pak-ho, who is in charge of torture claims, said combining the three types of asylum claims would make it harder to exploit the system.
Today, anyone seeking refuge in Hong Kong on the grounds that they faced torture if they were sent home must apply to the Immigration Department. But to claim asylum as a refugee, they must apply to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Some applicants have in the past filed one claim at a time to the government or the UNHCR, and, when the applications were rejected, sought a judicial review to prolong their stay in the city.