Archive


Alarm over rise in dubious Indian refugee claimants

Oct 29th, 2015 | Immigration, Media | Comment

Standard - Alarm over rise in dubious  Indian claims

VF comments to questions in Legco on 28 Oct 2015

Oct 28th, 2015 | Government, Immigration, Rejection, VF Opinion, Welfare | Comment

VF comments to Legco questions on 28 Oct 2015

Homeless refugees and locals spend nights in McDonald’s

Oct 28th, 2015 | Housing, Media, VF Opinion, Welfare | Comment

Homeless refugees, both new-arrivals and veterans, frequently spend nights in McDonald’s especially during cold winter months. Prohibited from working and inadequately supported by the Social Welfare Department, a growing number of refugees are becoming homeless and sleeping in parks, passageways and under flyer-overs. McDonald restaurants are the only establishments that offer safety and comparable tranquility overnight. Similarly to impoverished residents, refugees huddle up on benches with their few belongings after midnight and return to the street at the crack of dawn, before their presence inconveniences breakfast customers. It is disgraceful that Hong Kong Government fails to support its poorest citizens and reduces refugees to dehumanizing destitution. 

BBC - McRefugees of Hong Kong

Hong Kong-based photographer lifts the veil on refugees in New Territory slums

Oct 28th, 2015 | Housing, Media, Personal Experiences, Welfare | Comment

Coconuts - photographer lifts the veil on refugee slums

Brainwashing through wrong questions

Oct 27th, 2015 | Advocacy, Crime, Immigration, Personal Experiences, Refugee Community, Rejection | Comment

Hello, this is Outsider. I’m writing again because I find that the article published by The Standard on 5 October 2015 is misleading, as it mixes up the issues of seeking asylum and seeking employment. The reporter writes about dodgy agencies in India that promise work though asylum visas. The featured website claims, “Hong Kong Asylum Visa.”

As a refugee I am deeply disappointed with the government propaganda broadcasted by the media reporting illegal activities by refugees who are then called indistinctly: illegal immigrants, criminals, job seekers and abusers of the asylum system. The Immigration Department is always ready to make press releases when it arrests claimants working (link).

Some people consider the above to be true. Some people get angry and try to advocate and defend refugees. In interviews, journalists should ask more revealing questions. For example, they should ask: Why are some refugees forced to work? Why do some refugees commit crimes? Why do some refugees get involved with drugs? I hear many advocates answer with reasons about the lack of government assistance, including the biggest problem: high rents in Hong Kong.

It seems to me that many fail to grasp the bigger picture. Is it possible that the wrong questions are asked and the wrong answers given? There is no doubt that government propaganda is winning the day, by shifting the focus on a small minority of refugee caught breaking the law.

But are we the real problem? Would the problem be solved and the debate end, if no refugee ever committed a crime (NB: working illegally is criminalized)? Are refugees the root of the problem, or is the system a problem? Is stopping refugees from working and committing crimes the answer to wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in the failed welfare/legal system?

To repeat, working illegally, committing crimes, joining gangs and pushing drugs are the external, visible symptoms of the illness which is the failed USM and welfare system. The real question is why journalists are not researching and reporting on the failed USM and the welfare/legal ramifications?

Is it possible to heal the illness by just treating the symptoms? Can the truth be uncovered by asking the wrong questions? What are the underlying problems that government propaganda is avoiding?

People who wish to understand the big picture might ask: Why did two thousand Vietnamese who were working illegally, recently applied for asylum? Why are criminals and drug dealers masquerading as refugees? Why are dodgy employment agency offering “Asylum Visas”?

There is a subtle difference between asking these two questions: 1) Why are refugees working and 2) Why are illegal workers claiming asylum? For uncritical readers it is a question of semantics. For the government it demonizes refugees. For some citizens it is proof of abuse. For a refugee fleeing persecution, the difference is life and death and an unbearable life in Hong Kong.

It appears that the government is astutely orchestrating propaganda to cast refugees in a bad light and turn public opinion against the refugee community. I am worried that the constant negative reporting and Immigration press releases are brainwashing the public and generating a ‘push back’ sentiment that will unfairly harm refugees stuck in this hostile city. The article below should be titled “Twenty-two immigration offenders arrested – as 37 refugees offered protection out of 17,000 claimants since 1992”.

 

Brainwashing through wrong questions

ATV News Magazine “True and Fake Refugees”

Oct 26th, 2015 | Housing, Immigration, Media, Refugee Community, Rejection, Welfare | Comment

English translation by a HKBU student

ATV News Magazine - True or Fake Refugee (24Oct2015)

The plight of refugees living in slums

Oct 23rd, 2015 | Housing, Media, Refugee Community, Welfare | Comment

HKFP - The plight of refugees living in slums in Hong Kong

Educating Hong Kong’s Refugee Children: Policy and Practice

Oct 20th, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, Schooling | Comment

HKiED refugee forum

Hong Kong should open its heart to those who arrive with nothing but their dreams

Oct 19th, 2015 | Media | Comment

HKFP - Hong Kong should open its heart to those who arrive with nothing but their dreams

When chickens come home to roost

Oct 19th, 2015 | Immigration, Personal Experiences, Refugee Community | Comment

As an African refugee three years in Hong Kong, I appreciate the intertwining reasons why refugees escape to what they consider “safe havens” in developed countries. They are compelled to throw caution to the wind and embarked on life’s most dangerous journey.

According to media reports, they pay large sums to smugglers who have turned their misfortune into an opportunity to earn millions of USD across different channels. Let’s not forget that refugees are not assured of reaching the Promised Land (Europe) and over 3000 lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea this year.

It’s not that we refugees don’t know the risks we are facing. But for the majority of us these are risk worth taking as our homeland is often more dangerous than the journey. It resonates with me when they say, “It is better to die trying to flee, than doing nothing!”

For spectators sitting in comfort, it may seem like an exaggeration. I have heard many comments being thrown around in Hong Kong about desperate migrants and refugees. Most critics and haters will never understand the HELL refugees suffer in their native countries. And this happens for a variety of reasons.

First, the government propaganda doesn’t make it easier for Hongkongers to appreciate the underlying issues motivating escape and the right to claim asylum. The government discourse disseminates biased, and sometimes ridiculous, information with a view to marginalize, dehumanize and criminalize refugees who exercise a fundamental human right.

Second, the local media does not cast us in good light. We are called parasites, criminals, economic migrants and abusers of asylum. It is no wonder that the acceptance rate for refugees in Hong Kong is 0.3%. Despite 1.5 million once being refugees, Hongkongers today (conveniently) believe that none of the current 10,000 asylum seekers deserve protection. How ironic!

Third, the status determination process is shrouded in such secrecy that refugees understand little about it. The onset of USM was welcomed with much skepticism by professionals in the asylum field. This is because the previous systems failed miserably in granting protection. One year on, the USM has a dubious reputation as a process that hoodwinks refugees and those believing Hong Kong offers fair screening. How hypocritical!

Though refugees crossing the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean are in great risk of losing their lives, nevertheless they are more likely to be protected if they make it to Europe. It is very unfortunate that this crisis is happening. Its occurrence is however hardly surprising. In this, Hong Kong insensitive response to the Syrian crisis is not ambiguous.

When the Western countries invaded and destabilized North Africa, under the guise of fighting terrorism through NATO, they destroyed structures that held diverse communities together. For example, Western powers armed militias to overthrow the former Libyan strongman Murmur Gaddafi. They provided arms, logistical support and technical advice until Gaddafi was terminated.

I believe this happened because Gaddafi did not play ball with, nor bow to Western influence in Africa. Instead he vigorously opposed neo-colonial policies and the modern globalisation that ensure that Western conglomerates continued to exploit African resources with minimal benefits for local populations. He was a great advocate of the United States of Africa. So am I.

Before Gaddafi was killed he was involved in major campaigns across the African continent to bring all the countries and people together. He also offered scholarships to tens of thousands of students, yearly. But his efforts and influence were not received well by Western powers. He was perceived as a big threat to their grasp on natural resources and corrupt leaders. With Gaddafi out of the way, the 400 year pillage of Africa by Western states continues … and refugees flow north.

As for Syria, the US should take all Syrian refugees home. The US wanted a regime change in Syria through undemocratic means. The world can clearly see the consequences of western military power. They invaded Iraq on the pretext that the country held Weapons of Mass Destruction and Iraq is today a shadow of its former self. Then the warmongers moved to Syria to topple the Assad regime.

The suffering, destruction and death brought to innocent people is unimaginable. It is high time that Western powers take responsibilities for their actions. It is convenient that the US is far removed from Libya, Syria and Iraq, otherwise the States would be the ideal destination for all displaced refugees. Some commentators are rightly blaming the West for destabilizing the region and creating the refugee crisis.

 Are the chickens coming home to roost?

An Iraqi refugee in Hong Kong. Photo by Jason Ng Waiho
An Iraqi refugee in Hong Kong. Photo by Jason Ng Waiho