Kaze Arts – Concepts in 3D
May 26th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
Kaze fled Cameroon in 2005 and has made Hong Kong his home. He’s a charming person and a powerful artist who expresses his concepts with a spectacular 3D style that escapes words and must be seen to be appreciated. When I first met him he explain he doesn’t just paint, but employs diverse materials to realize his ‘dreams’: leather, glass, metal, wood and elaborate frames that combined together speak from the depths of his soul. In so many words it’s hard to understand, but when you see his art with your own eyes, that’s when you realize Kaze has a potential that deserves a wider circles than his friends and fans here.
After lunch today we returned to his exhibition to pick a piece to adorn our Homebase. Not only has Kaze struggled as a refugee for too long, but through hardship, his art gives witness to our members’ will to survive, to their daily fight to make every day matter and to their hope that soon they will break these bonds of alienation to enjoy the freedom that shines on our great city. KAZE ARTS will show until Sunday 29 May 2011. Please go see for yourself how special his dreams are at the Culture Club Gallery
CIA World Factbook – Cameroon: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cm.html
The truth before our eyes
May 19th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
We understand that some of those seeking asylum in Hong Kong work ‘illegally’ in certain sectors of the economy. Why does this happen? Are these people economic migrants who abuse the asylum system to work here, or are they genuine claimants who find themselves in dire need while waiting determination of their fate? The HKSAR seems to agree with the former. On many occasions the government stated that economic migrants masquerade as asylum seekers to enter Hong Kong, in larger numbers and in any possible way – which is why it hasn’t yet ratify the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. It is evident to us that simplistic and air-tight distinctions are difficult to make; they are often baseless; and, in our opinion, quite unnecessary.
Those who enter Hong Kong to seek asylum (or learn about this opportunity here), struggle for many years awaiting the determination of their claim – without either the right to legal stay, or the right to work. As is well known, HKSAR provides most with basic assistance amounting to minimal rental allowance, several bags of foodstuff, basic medical services and limited transportation fees. While this may seem like an attractive and comprehensive package, in reality it is not. Several other needs that should be considered as basic and fundamental are not included. This is why charities like Vision First step up to fill the gaps. We have, however, limited resources and the number of people we assist is less than 5% of the local refugee population – specifically 316 members out of 6,700 to-date. The vast majority of asylum seekers do not have any form of support other than the insufficient aid provided by the government and the kindness of friends and strangers.
Since they are limited to assistance in-kind, cash is always a dreadful problem for those stranded in an urban environment, where fruits cannot be picked from trees and water cannot be drunk from rivers. Hong Kong citizens who occasionally befriend refugees are deeply shocked they live in a thriving city like ours without a single dollar in their wallet. How is it possible? It is not. So people are compelled to work to survive. While this may be morally reprehensible and legally punishable, our economy doesn’t seem to suffer from it. On the contrary, large strata of low-income residents are making considerable profits by engaging with asylum seekers. Refugees are not only people in need of assistance; they are also consumers. They have skills at times not readily available here. They gratefully accept jobs that picky young residents turn their back and nose to because dirty, dangerous, and demeaning, besides being grossly underpaid. Nobody came here to be exploited like this, instead they labour stoically to fulfill daily needs and reduce personal suffering.
Landlords are increasingly profiting too by renting to refugees tiny, run-down rooms that would otherwise remain vacant. Ethnic grocery shops earn stable income by providing (ISS) supplies to refugees. Afterwards, they might buying back the lot half-price in order to resell it to low-income residents who cannot afford wet markets, let alone Welcome. Low-wage and labour-intensive small and micro enterprises, constrained to lower cost to survive, hire asylum seekers for the day according to operational needs. No decent pay, no minimum wage, but at most 200 HKD for a punishing dawn-till-dusk toil in heat, danger and fear of arrest. The reality, apparent to us, is that Hong Kong needs cheap and occasional workers to power businesses with marginal returns, where profitability is only possible hiring this labour. Put sharply, this is a two-fold reality unfolded before our very eyes: refugees cannot survive penniless and the economy cannot do without them. Whether refugees work or not is incidental to their circumstances, their race and skills, the years they have waited, the debt they incurred fleeing and, indeed, the financial straits of families left to fend for themselves back home. Certainly Hong Kong appears to push them towards survival employment, or else…
No man is an island
May 17th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
This celebrated quotation from English poet John Donne (1572-1631) captures Vision First’s worldview.
It was printed in “Devotions upon emergent occasions and several steps in my sickness”, 1624:
“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume. When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated … As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come. So this bell calls us all, but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness … No man is an island, entire of itself … Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for you!”
As members of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, we keep abreast of asylum and migration issues in the broader region. Hong Kong, while being an island entire of itself, is inescapably influenced by conflicts and politics, changes and policies across the region. When one country tightens its exploitative grip on its population, or another clamps down on irregular migration, the people’s strife doesn’t abate, but is transferred across borders. For example: most Thais don’t know that 140,000 refugees have been kept in nine camps along the border for 26 years. Why? Here is the Network’s latests newsletter: APRRN-Newsletter-May-2011
Dentists and Diapers (an unlikely mix)
May 15th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
Dear Members – We are glad to inform we have a new partner offering Vision First 15 monthly dental visits to assist in a gravely overlooked area! Until 2009 there was nothing but teeth extractions at public hospitals. Then the Prince Philip Dental Hospital caringly opened its doors to asylum-seekers and refugees, however they are so busy it takes three months to get an appointments. Everyone knows the pain of toothache and having to wait for days is bad enough in the mildest of situations. For major trauma and complex issues the PPDH is still available, but to reduce their workload with common cavities we now have an alternative.
Our sister charity – we say this proudly as NGO is more supportive of VF! – the Christian Concern for Homeless Association has a dental clinic in Sham Shui Po that welcomes members in need of dental services. They have a roaster of volunteer dentists offering their services on specific days, thus a careful appointment system is mandatory. We all know how difficult it is for many to be punctual and we have received distressed calls from members who waited three months for a PPDH visit only to show up late and forfeiting their slot to wait two more months. This will not happen at the new clinic! If you miss your appointment you will not have a second chance. Please understand there are hundreds of needy citizens queuing up for free dental visits and wasting precious time will not be accepted.
For appointments please come to Vision First, fill in the questionnaire and await an email confirmation. We are ready to start this pilot program immediately and it will be run on a “First Come – First Served” basis, irrespective of past requests made for PPDH.
As for the diapers, we couldn’t be happier to announce that Procter & Gamble came through with their promise to supply thousands of nappies and last Friday we receive 50 boxes of Pampers that are ready for immediate distribution. We ask parents to limit their request to their monthly need, to avoid hording as there will ample supply in the future. This bonanza subtracts nothing from the kind effort of the Canadian International School students, first to respond to our appeal, nor to the hardworking team at Hong Kong International School who are currently running a drive for Diapers & More to benefit our needy families. To you, dear students, go our heartfelt appreciation as we know how difficult it is to raise donations in the best of circumstances. If you saw the smiles on mothers’ faces when they collect your donations, you would truly appreciate the difference you make in the lives of those who living on the fringe of society with few or no friends. We look forward to having you at our Homebase to show you what the community can accomplish together. On closing, a big THANK YOU to all these parties that make Vision First’s mission possible !!!
Appalling rights record ignored in deal
May 9th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
[email distributed by APRRN on 5 May 2011]
Australia has ignored Malaysia’s appalling record of mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees in its rush to seal an asylum seeker transfer deal, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) says.
The transfer deal, announced by the Australian and Malaysian Governments yesterday, will see 800 asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat sent to Malaysia in return for Australia resettling 4000 additional refugees from Malaysia over the next four years. “If this were an agreement between two countries which had ratified the Refugee Convention and provided fair treatment to asylum seekers and refugees, we could support a reasonable proposal to share responsibility,” RCOA chief executive officer Paul Power said. “However, Malaysia has not signed the Refugee Convention and has a long record of abuse and mistreatment of people seeking protection.
“Malaysia’s policies, which include arbitrary arrest, detention and caning of asylum seekers, have contributed to people moving on to Australia and elsewhere to seek protection. Refugees who manage to avoid detention are generally left with no legal status and no right to work, risking arrest as a result of their efforts to support themselves. “The Refugee Council of Australia has strongly advocated for the development of a more effective regional framework to better address the protection needs of refugee and we have applauded the Australian Government’s efforts to advance this through the Bali Process. But rather than working patiently to build policies which ensure the protection of the vulnerable, Australia has rushed for domestic political reasons into a bilateral agreement which will see it linked to some of the most inhumane refugee policies in Asia.
Managing Diversity in Plural Societies
Apr 25th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
Recognition and the Politics of Identity and Inclusion in the 21st Century:
Managing Diversity in Plural Societies
28 & 29 April 2011 – The University of Hong Kong
Welcome to the Conference on “Recognition and the Politics of Identity and Inclusion in the 21st Century: Managing Diversity in Plural Societies”. The Conference is part of the University of Hong Kong’s Emerging Strategic Research Theme on Diversity Studies and is supported by the Law Faculty of the University of Hong Kong, the Law Faculty’s Centre for Comparative and Public Law and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Migration has generated an increasingly borderless world which has challenged the nation-state model as an effective tool for the governance of multiplicities and the management of diversity. As the nation-state is faced with the challenge of dealing with immigrants, non-nationals, refugees and others with newly emerging identities, there is a need to reassess existing frameworks for recognition of the claims of minority communities.
Whilst civil society movements over the course of the last century have helped secure legal recognition of the rights of minorities, the complexities of plural identities showcase the weaknesses of the current categorizations which form the basis for the extension or denial of rights. As a result, it is necessary to critically examine the resulting marginalization of individuals and groups on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, national minority status, refugee status, gender, age, sexuality, health, and disability. Current protections are inadequate as they continue to be based on exclusionary frames of analyses which ignore the distinct needs and rights of these groups. The fact that each of these minority statuses often overlap with other minority traits further compounds the challenges of governance.
This conference seeks to explore the changing dimensions of the politics of identity and inclusion and their implications for governance and the protection of minority communities in plural societies. The conference intends to forge new synergies between disciplines and will draw on the concepts of equality, non-discrimination, identity, inclusion, minority rights and human rights to address the comprehensive challenges posed by life at the margins of society.
Keynote Speaker: Ms. Gay J. McDougall, United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues
An Easter of hospitality
Apr 25th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
Eighteen century statesman Edmund Burke famously wrote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of Evil is for good men to do nothing!” Today, these words inspire us to do our part in the world despite the enormous challenges emerging from the coast of Africa to the coast of Fukushima. Unable to explain the suffering that plagues mankind, we find solace in the everlasting hope of Good Men who fight tyranny and persecution with instruments of justice, truth, mercy, forgiveness and love. Every day, in every corner of the world these brave Good Men rise against injustice – willing to pay the ultimate price – with the resolute determination they make a difference in stemming the tide of evil. Joining their voices with those of past heroes, they lament having just one life to sacrifice for all that is good in humanity.
This Easter week the upheaval in the Middle East demonstrates how little has changed since the events of the First Easter that also occurred amidst occupation, violence and a desperate search for refuge. Progress and development have improved the livelihood of 5% of the word’s population, but conditions in Damascus, Misrata and Tripoli are little changed since Roman legionnaires subdued citizens with a merciless imperial fist. For two millennia strife never ceased and produced generations of exiles and refugees. Today we cannot ignore the moral imperative that comes with belonging to a free and wealthy country. When our freedom encounters the affliction of a fellow man, our freedom becomes a moral duty to act with compassion and generosity, because nobody knows whose turn is next. Case in point are the distraught Japanese ‘nuclear refugees’ whose escape wouldn’t merit UNHCR protection, as ecological disasters aren’t covered by its narrow mandate that exclude many of our members, too.
Nobody looks back far in family history without finding evidence of ancestors fleeing their homeland as ‘economic migrants’ or forced to escape like desperate refugees. Whether of Chinese, South-Asian, Anglo-Irish or Australian descent, every family suffered this fate before, maybe when borders where less ferociously guarded and governments more principled. Fiercely determined to counter ‘the magnet effect’, in 2010 the HKSAR successfully tightened controls and dissuaded departures from trouble spots: only 450 UNHCR applications were lodged out of 358,800 in developed countries (http://www.unhcr.org/4d8c5b109.html). The global figure is 40% lower than in 2000 despite there being an equivalent number of refugees worldwide, which is proof the burden shifted to undeveloped countries. Thus, Hong Kong joins the ranks of the Wealthiest doing the least, while poorer countries, without resources to seal borders, are overwhelmed by millions. Being prosperous should count for more than excluding the vulnerable and promoting Investment Migration Schemes to those able to invest 10 million dollars, who inflate property and shares prices, yet add little to real economic growth.
Recently, Vision First experienced the dilemma of new arrivals candidly admitting they are not ‘convention refugees’, but instead fled countries where they ate only every three days. These hungry strangers lined up with an AIDS victim, a homosexual who was almost burnt alive in his village and others chased from their ancestral homes by despair too deep to fathom. Empathizing with their distress, we dutifully explain our NGO mission and wonder: “How do we turn into the street a fellow human being pleading for help?” It is consideration of a shared dignity, not of policy, that determines how we act in these circumstances. To stem impending suffering, sympathetic charity is more valuable than stringent policy – however legitimate that policy may be – because the only eyes evaluating us are the very ones pleading for compassion. Undoubtedly, these reflections will be tested by the opening of our Emergency Shelter in July, when those desperate for lodging will vie for limited availability. Never mind, we shall cross that bridge when we reach it. These encounters remind us that our freedom doesn’t reach so far as to judge claimants’ backgrounds after HKSAR Immigration has accepted their application. When charity prevails, the good of one’s fellow man determines the bounds of one’s freedom. Therefore, Vision First welcomes needy foreigners who seek sanctuary in our city in the name of a virtue that makes mankind great – the virtue of hospitality to strangers and refugees.
Appeal court agrees torture claimants must first overstay visa
Apr 23rd, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
(Published in the South China Morning Post, Apr 19, 2011 – by Chris Ip)
The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an Immigration Department requirement that people fleeing torture in their home countries stay in Hong Kong long enough to be illegal “overstayers” before they can lodge an appeal to stay in the city. Mr Justice Michael Hartmann said the United Nations convention was silent on the exact way an application had to be processed, as long as the claimants were not sent back to a state where they could be tortured. Critics have argued that the policy makes it harder for claimants to prove they have been tortured in their home countries, because physical evidence of past torture can fade as the process is delayed. Hartmann agreed with Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung’s Court of First Instance judgment that without a special regime to deal with torture claimants, the Director of Immigration has the legal power to run the procedure as he wishes. Legco was due to legislate on a processing mechanism last year but a bill has yet to be passed. “Our courts have long recognized that because of Hong Kong’s unique geographical, social, historical and economic circumstances, the director has acted lawfully in determining that he is not in a position to devise immigration policies that are perhaps not as generous as policies formulated in other jurisdictions,” Hartmann said in the judgment. The case was also heard by Mr Justice Joseph Fok and Mr Justice Anthony To. The judicial review concerns two separate torture claimants from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo who were both permitted to stay in Hong Kong for 14 days on arrival. Each man, during that period, approached the Immigration Department to lodge a claim under the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. As part of the convention since 1992, Hong Kong is obligated to practice non-refoulement – to not send people back to a state where they could be tortured.
However, both applicants were told they could not make a claim while they were lawfully in the city. They had to remain longer than the legal 14 days and become “overstayers” before they could attempt to gain protection. Technically that made them illegal immigrants, giving authorities the right to arrest, detain and prosecute them. Philip Dykes SC, for the appellants, argued that a delay in processing could weaken a claimant’s case, because the best proof that they could be tortured if sent home was evidence they had been tortured. Dykes referred to the Istanbul Protocol, a UN manual on how to investigate torture, which describes “promptness” as a “fundamental principle of any viable investigation”. “If it is alleged to have happened within the past six weeks, such an examination should be arranged urgently before acute signs fade,” the 2004 document says. Hartmann accepted the argument. “If it is known that a claimant alleges recent torture, immediate steps should be taken to arrange for a medical examination,” he said. But he said the Director of Immigration’s vast purview on policy meant it was legally possible for him to make exceptions for cases that needed to be processed quickly. Anderson Chow Ka-ming SC, for the director, said in the hearing that there was no evidence that the director would never grant an exception. But Mark Daly, solicitor for the applicants at law firm Barnes & Daly, said he knew of no occasion where an exception had been made in more than a decade working on hundreds of torture claimant cases. He said they were considering an appeal.
First impressions
Apr 14th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
I am unmistakably white, middle-aged and middle-class and my students at Vision First were adult male African refugees aged 25 to 35, from circumstances I could only imagine. With not much in common to begin our first class in English, I stumbled through forty-five minutes trying to make sense of the differences between us. I often asked my students to repeat what they had said. I felt I was under water listening to them. Their words were softly spoken and the accents were unusual to my ear. And they had trouble with me: my fast tempo of speaking, the quick change of topics, and the words I used.
But eventually we spoke of owls. I had only recently discovered that the owl, a symbol in the West of wisdom was a symbol of death as the spirit-taker in the Oriental East, and now Frank, a class member from Togo, informed me that in parts of West Africa it is believed by some to be a bringer of bad luck, and fairly killed if one comes too close…
And then things changed and I forgot I was a teacher for a while and we more or less talked. And I discovered my students were interesting and decent people. And that’s the thing that came powerfully to me as the class progressed. I don’t know how they have survived — not only in their own countries but here in Hong Kong, where there is no access for them to work and formal education and all the things we take for granted here. How can one have dignity when the circumstances which allow it seem so absent?
We often imaginatively try out the experiences of others. Could I survive in their circumstances? If I’m honest, I think the answer is no. And yet, while I have only known my class members the shortest amount of time, they seem to have not only survived but also maintained their dignity. My students have much to teach me, and I hope I have something of value for them as well.
I look forward to our next class.
Michael Holland
Refugee fights lonely battle for justice in his homeland
Apr 3rd, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment
Sayed is a Vision First member since 2009 and was interviewed by SCMP as he campaigned outside the Rugby Sevens
A political refugee from the Ivory Coast who is seeking asylum in Hong Kong is on a one-man crusade to highlight injustice in his strife-torn country and to publicise what he says is Beijing’s financial backing for an ‘evil regime’. The man – who wants to be known only as Sayed because of his close links with the Ivory Coast government’s bitter rivals, the Rally of the Republicans party – came to the city nearly three years ago as an asylum seeker when threats were made against his life in his homeland, where he worked as an organiser and leader for the party’s youth branch. He says China is only interested in the Ivory Coast’s natural resources, not its people. Sayed’s campaign comes as Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo – who refuses to leave power after losing the presidential election, despite international pressure to do so – reels from mass defections among his soldiers and security forces. Yesterday, gunfire, explosions and the sound of heavy weapons could be heard in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city and economic capital, as forces supporting Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara, who won the presidential election in November, stormed the city. ‘I just want to show what is happening in my country. The Ivory Coast is being ruled by a dictator,’ the 31-year-old said, referring to Gbagbo. ‘I want to educate people and let them know what the situation is like there.’
CIA World Factbook – Ivory Coast: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iv.html
