My 21 years as an illegal immigrant in Hong Kong
Rangi witnessed unspeakable horrors in Sri Lanka, but his relief on arriving in Hong Kong has turned to despair as he waits for his asylum application to be processed
Hong Kong refugee Rangi was 14 when civil war broke out in Sri Lanka. From among his classmates, he is one of a few survivors; many were slaughtered by the Sri Lankan army.
I arranged to spend the night with Rangi and his family in their cramped Wan Chai apartment in December last year.
We speak as I sit in one of his children’s chairs. He’s on the bottom bunk of a bed, which takes up most of the bedroom. The space is so cramped our knees nearly touch. Rangi’s memory is still fresh with stories from Sri Lanka.
The torture went on for over an hour. He was 17. Then they slit his throat
“One night at the camp, we were forced to sit in a circle and sing,” he tells me after dinner. “One kid was tied in the centre with a knife softly scratching the skin around his throat. The torture went on for over an hour. He was 17. Then they slit his throat,” he pauses.
“Just two tiny cuts on the sides, but so much blood spurted out. The soldiers dipped their fingers in it, then they made us drink it. They told us, ‘You will be next’. I will never forget that night.”
As he talks, his eyes unblinking, the 45-year-old refugee appears to be reliving the horror.