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Asylum seekers in Asia

Asylum seekers in Asia
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Asylum seekers in Asia. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Rohingya refugees wait to be rescued from the hull of their capsized boat in waters off west Aceh in 2024. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

‘Some make it, some die’: why more Rohingya risk sea escapes to Malaysia

Dwindling food aid and growing desperation force thousands of refugees in Bangladesh to undertake perilous sea crossings to Southeast Asia.

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Japan

Japan’s deportation drive strikes fear into asylum seekers, foreign residents

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong deports 113 failed asylum seekers in week-long operation

Myanmar

Stay or go? Rohingya see no way out of predicament as Myanmar heads to poll

Myanmar’s phased election, set to start on Sunday, is likely to be steered by the same leaders responsible for driving the Rohingya out.

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A boat with Rohingya refugees attempts to enter Malaysia from Langkawi in this photo released on January 4. Photo: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency/AP
Indonesia

After 11 years in Indonesian limbo, Afghan refugee finds a home in Australia

For years, Bibi Rahima Farhangdost was a nursing assistant with no right to work, trapped in limbo with thousands of others.

India

‘Outrageous’: Indian navy reportedly forces Rohingya refugees into the sea

At least 40 refugees, including children and old folks, were given life jackets, then cast adrift near the India-Myanmar border, UNHCR says.

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Food and Drinks

Recipes and stories from Hong Kong refugees and asylum seekers

Cookbook Table of Two Cities shines a light on refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong with recipes contributed by them, and their stories.

Tegan Smyth​​, founder of charity Grassroots Future, with a copy of Table of Two Cities, which features recipes shared by refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong, and their stories. Photo: Edmond So
Hong Kong society

Refugees in Hong Kong face ‘worst-case scenario’ after US, Canada policy shifts

Social worker says conditions dire for refugees with President Trump’s suspension of US programme, Ottawa’s tightening of rules.

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Malaysia

Malaysia turns away hundreds of Rohingya refugees after dozens landed on island

Authorities said on Saturday that they turned away two boats carrying nearly 300 people believed to be Rohingya refugees who entered the country illegally.

Hong Kong society

Laptop scheme set to bridge tech gap for children of asylum seekers in Hong Kong

With help of Operation Santa Claus, local charity Grassroots Future will be able to provide donated laptops to needy children.

With funding, Grassroots Future will be able to get its own laptops and run more IT programmes for the children of asylum seekers. Photo: Cindy Sui
Malaysia

‘I’m unwanted here’: Rohingyas’ Malaysian dreams dashed amid prejudice

Members of the persecuted Muslim minority struggling to access education and jobs find solace in volunteering and supporting their community.

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Abu, a Rohingya refugee in Malaysia, organises activities to support young people who lack access to formal education. Photo: Steven Ooi/MSF
Hong Kong

He fled mainland China for Hong Kong. Now his son helps refugees like him

A refugee from mainland China who swam to Hong Kong at the third attempt tells Jason Wordie about getting caught, his ‘shocking’ prison experience, and his barrister son who helps asylum seekers.

Refugees

Living in limbo on US$13 a day - struggles of asylum seekers in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a magnet for asylum seekers. Here’s a visual explainer of what it is like to live in a state of uncertainty in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

Art

Refugee Week Hong Kong events celebrate asylum seekers

Community and connection are the themes of Refugee Week Hong Kong, in which poetry readings, a film festival and other events will highlight the challenges faced by asylum seekers, and their creativity.

Misplaced Words Of A Displaced Man is a collection of poems by asylum seeker John Outsider that will be launched at open mic poetry night held as part of Refugee Week Hong Kong. Photo: Phoebe So
Accidents and personal safety

Hong Kong asylum seekers returning to blaze-hit New Lucky House denied aid

Some asylum seekers say they did not receive financial and other help given to New Lucky House fire victims.

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A deadly fire ripped through the building in April, killing five and injuring 43 others. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Hong Kong society

More than 14,000 asylum seekers await fate in Hong Kong – are the claims valid?

Treacherous journeys from as far away as Pakistan and East Africa often lead asylum seekers to mainland China, where they cross illegally into Hong Kong.

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South Korea

South Korea sees surge in Russians seeking asylum as Ukraine war grinds on

The number of Russian nationals submitting refugee application last year jumped fivefold, in a surge almost matching the total for more than two decades before 2019.

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Britain

Malaysian TikTok star funds schooling for Palestinians: ‘you have to give back’

Sabrina Bahsoon, who is known for her viral dances on the London Tube, is leveraging her celebrity by sponsoring schooling for Palestinian children living as refugees in Malaysia.

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Sabrina Bahsoon at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2023 in London on November 15. Photo: Shutterstock
Australia

How ruling to overturn detention of asylum seekers, refugees splits Australia

Indefinite detention of migrants had become a political tool over the years, analysts say, and a ‘vehicle for delivery of immense cruelty’.

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Hong Kong society

Egyptian refugee in Hong Kong gets his ticket to Canada after 10 long years

Only 320 out of 27,871 asylum seekers have succeeded in getting clearance to be resettled since 2009

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police rescue 4 suspected illegal immigrants spotted on tiny island

Force deploys patrol boat to rescue three of them from Peaked Hill, southwest of Lantau, while fourth, who was reportedly injured, airlifted off island.

The men were found on Peaked Hill, off Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Photo: Shutterstock
Malaysia

Malaysia’s plan to give refugees its worst jobs an unethical ‘facade’: activists

A proposal to allow UN-registered refugees to work – but only in ‘dirty, dangerous, difficult’ jobs – reveals the state’s lack of empathy over their plight, advocates say.

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A volunteer teacher gives a basic English lesson to Muslim Rohingya refugees at a slum on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in 2020. Currently, Malaysian law bars registered refugees from accessing formal employment. Photo: AP
Diplomacy

Opinion | How China can stop Pakistan from worsening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis

Pakistan’s deportation of over a million Afghans threatens to overwhelm Afghanistan’s struggling economy and aid agencies, and put lives in danger. China should pressure Pakistan to reverse or delay its decision.

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Hong Kong society

‘Dire situation’: Hong Kong urged to show compassion to ill asylum seekers

‘Sometimes I wake up and I am blind in my left eye. My sight comes back eventually, but it is terrifying,’ says Egyptian woman diagnosed with hemiplegia.

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Australia

What a refugee’s long ‘Walk for Freedom’ reveals about Australian asylum policy

Neil Para’s family fled civil war in Sri Lanka and have been trapped in Australia for nearly a decade after their visas were revoked without explanation.

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Tamil refugee Neil Para on his 1,000km “Walk for Freedom” to petition Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about his family’s visa-less plight. Photo: Handout/Neil Para
Myanmar

India must probe arrests of Rohingya Muslims, cease crackdown: rights group

A report by rights group Fortify Rights showed Indian authorities beating Rohingya refugees, denying them due process rights, and indefinitely detaining them.

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Rohingya children wait to receive food handouts in Bangladesh. Fearing arbitrary arrest by Indian authorities, some refugees were said to have fled from India to Bangladesh. Photo: AP
Hong Kong national security law

Do whistle-blowers like Edward Snowden still have a place in Hong Kong?

Former security chief Regina Ip brushes aside lawyer’s claim that law deters whistle-blowing.

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Art

‘It’s going to be a celebration of resilience’: Hong Kong refugees’ carnival

Christian Action’s Centre for Refugees will celebrate the resilience of Hong Kong refugees and asylum seekers with an event at PMQ, one of many this month to mark World Refugee Day 2023.

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