Basic Facts

What are the basic facts?

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their country due to persecution. This means they are at risk of serious human rights abuse because of their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. They may face unfair imprisonment, torture or death.

An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking protection but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been assessed. It is not illegal under HK or international law to seek asylum, even if arriving without a passport and a visa.

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution.

Who are Vision First’s members?

There are refugees in virtually every country around the world and we hear about their plight on a daily basis through the media. People become refugees when one or more of their fundamental human rights are threatened or violated, and they are forced to flee. Nobody chooses to become a refugee and few people who escape their country to seek sanctuary abroad realize they are refugees.

A refugee is not just a “foreigner” they are ordinary people who arrive in Hong Kong out of desperation, having fled their home countries with only what they carried. They have often had to abandon family, friends, work, and property to escape to safety. They have frequently suffered abuse, torture, rape, murder of family and friends and other atrocities. Having reached Hong Kong they are categorically prohibited to work and generate an income, thus initially having to depend on the goodwill of others for basic necessities, such as food, shelter and clothing – as well as to feel welcomed in their new communities.

These people deserve our special consideration and Vision First believes it is the community’s responsibility to take steps to meet their humanitarian needs. Robert Whitehead, SC, explained to the the judge in the Court of First Instance, “Refugees are not illegal immigrants, they are not fortune hunters. They are protected people who have passed through the gate of official scrutiny. These people are for all intents and purposes – for no fault of their own – stranded in Hong Kong and have nowhere else to go. Allowing this (suffering) to happen amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on the part of the HK government, in contravention of the Convention Against Torture”

All asylum-seekers arrive with few resources and they face insurmountable obstacles every day struggling to make ends meet – it is an ordeal which tests their resolve and determination. They literally lead a hand-to-mouth existence, and risk losing physical and mental health, as well as faith in humanity. Nevertheless they strive courageously to face the challenges of an uprooted life without the support of their family, their community or their country.

What’s the current situation?

Hong-Kong has no domestic legislation to determine the fate of asylum seekers as they are not a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention or the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (The Refugee Convention). As Hong Kong does not have its own refugee status determination system, the UNCHR of Hong Kong is responsible for determining asylum application pursuant to the mandate given in its statute to provide international protection to refugees.

Due to UNHCR resource constraints, asylum-seekers often wait over a year for their first interview. It takes anywhere between one and five years for the asylum seekers’ claims for refugee status to be processed by the UNHCR, and some complex cases can be left forever in limbo. When refugee status is established asylum seekers and refugees might be eventually resettled in a third country – since the HKSAR has not legalized their position – though most experience a frustratingly prolonged Hong Kong stay.

“Let us remember that a bogus asylum-seeker is not equivalent to a criminal; and that an unsuccessful asylum application is not equivalent to a bogus one.”- Kofi Annan

During the years necessary to process their UNHCR application, clients scrape a living depending exclusively on the kindness of fellow refugees and the generosity of charitable intervention by NGOs and local churches. Given these desperate circumstances, it is apparent how asylum-seekers and refugees – caught in a legal holding pattern, without the ability to study, or work to support themselves – are in a vulnerable position. It is here that Vision First proposes to help fill the gap by helping to provide vital, immediate support for asylum-seekers, along with the tools for future self-reliance. (You can download a great map of Africa here)