Blog

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 !!!

HKIS "Humanities In Action" class learns about Vision First's mission
HKIS "Humanities In Action" class learns about Vision First's mission

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.

VF organizes basketball and football games for its members
VF organizes basketball and football games for its members

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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

VF visits members held in Immigration detention and prison
VF visits members held in Immigration detention and prison

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.

Interviewing the most vulnerable of asylum seekers
Interviewing the most vulnerable of asylum seekers

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.

Members collect ISS groceries every ten days
Members collect ISS groceries every ten days

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

Michael's students are keen to learn
Michael's students are keen to learn

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

Ivorian protest
Ivorian protest

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A Spring update

Apr 1st, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment

Dear supporters – You might have wondered why our website wasn’t loading fast enough. You were right, there were issued and this afternoon we left them in our digital wake. Now we’re hosted on a super fast server that guarantees our web-visitors the best experience. We are no longer street-bound and ambulant, but adjusting to the more complex dynamics of a Homebase, where members drop in, consult with privacy and have a go at our widescreen Playstation 3 system (a kind donation of Donough’s) which unexpectedly has become a focal point. When Vision First was just a concept in our mind, we planned a ‘boutique operation’ with 150 members tops, as we wished for a personalized service on a first-name-basis. That target was quickly reached and surpassed as our family grew to over two hundred. The challenge will be maintaining a personalized touch as we reach new milestones: yesterday we added three very deserving refugees (one from Cameroon and two from lawless Egypt), closing 2011 Q1 at 287.  There’s always the fear funds won’t be enough, but on the other hand our philosophy of ‘build and they shall come’ has proven a winner and somehow – by Providence and serendipity – good things always happen for Vision First. This week we added two more apartments: one in the heart of Causeway Bay, which to our surprise has cheaper “tou fong” (Chinese for suit-room with bathroom/kitchen) than Saiyingpoon; the other on Fa Yuen street, courtesy of the best landlord in town, who visits his tenants with groceries, after fitting out kitchens with all necessities. This guy is so great that when he visited ISS, they attempted to poach his services that of course remain exclusive for our most deserving families. For the record: we now have 24 home/shelters and are blazing trails in the provision of this support.

To be perfectly honest I started this blog to share a sad update, though a positive spirit to the better of me. The picture of today’s success is marred by a bitter defeat: this evening one of our first members, and a dear friend, boarded a flight to return to Mogadishu, the heart of a twenty year civil war which forced his exile three and a half years ago. The first thought that naturally comes to mind is: was he an economic migrant who simply wanted to better his life and gave up? No! He was recognized a refugee by the UNHCR over two years ago, so there is no questioning his background. I spent many afternoons with this cheerful and spirited young man, whom everyone would agree was quite a personality, yet I may never understood the depth of his despair against his decision to leave. As a recognized refugee, he had only one hope: that of being resettled to North America, with no option of HK residence, a temporary work visa or anything other than ‘being hung to dry’ as he waited. His favorite place was the raised garden-podium by the Walk of the Stars, where he hoped for a miracle sitting through rain and shine on a bench he affectionately called his. No matter how hard we try, we won’t appreciate what forced idleness means when endured year after grinding year. Maybe it’s like being in prison, but a lady told me Wednesday that in detention it’s easier to forget the outside, even your children, because there is nothing you can do about it, whereas living as outsiders inside a bustling city is outright maddening.

As my friend flies to Dubai on his way to the wartorn Horn of Africa, my heart aches that our cashed up government sits on 600,000,000,000 HKD of reserves, yet fails the just 100 refugees who would be allowed to work and integrate in any other advanced country. Let’s not mince words: if this Somali refugee takes a bullet to the head in a Mogadishu market tomorrow, can we truthfully exonerate HKSAR from all responsibility? What would a CNN news crew say about his Hong Kong issued, UNHCR Refugee Certificate … his proudest possession in a wallet always thick with shop cards, phone cards, discount cards, but never a banknote. I know his wife and three children skyped him often. I know he felt responsible and guilty and powerless. In the end his desolation was greater than the ‘glimmer of hope’ the HKSAR refuses to give desperate foreigners seeking refuge – too different to be accepted and too poor to be welcomed as VIP in our wealth-obsessed society. We can reflect on this event in the context of self-immolation: when a Protester douses himself in petrol and dances with death as a human torch, the reality of his hardship slams into our comfort zone. By the same token, when a refugee damns Hong Kong’s hospitality to return to a warzone, what does it say about the care, support and acceptance he received? Is this the way we would like to be treated if, God forbid, we became political or nuclear refugees? As for you, my dear friend, I wish you Godspeed and may you be safe with your family!

Members' area
The member's area with internet and coffee

Falling off a cliff … day after day.

Mar 27th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment

Hello, my name is Goodsend and I’ve been a refugee in Hong Kong since September 2006. Thank you for this great cup of coffee and the opportunity to share with Vision First’s supporters. Sorry, I didn’t sleep till 5am and with only a couple hours sleep every night it’s hard to concentrate. I find it difficult to think because I’m not getting enough sleep and this has been my suffering since I sought asylum in September 2006. I have seen doctors and taken sleeping pills and other psychotropic drugs which help me feel better but they make me dizzy and feeling strange after a while, so I stopped all of that. When you live many months and years as a refugee, you don’t have a clear routine or schedule, no idea where you are going and what you have to do. This continues for a long time so your ability to concentrate reduce as your mind and attention gets weaker and weaker. Sometimes when you need it you don’t have this basic ability that was so strong for me when I was a university student and an active opposition leader before the death threats. Concentration is like exercise, if you don’t use it you lose it, right? To recover this you need a routine, study, work, something clear to keep your mind occupied, but if you don’t have a longterm solution to your problem, how can you further your life? Perhaps for me things are easier than most refugees as I speak good English and have many helpful friends, but how about the other guys? There are many who just sit at home all day, often in a windowless coffin-size room. They have no friends. They just leave the house to collect food, visit Immigration or United Nations for appointments and they don’t even know their district after a year. They have too many awful worries and gradually they get trapped in the shell of their day-to-day existence, trapped in a little room – their life gradually losing perspective. To say the truth, they are going crazy, mad in isolation and inactivity, like trapped zoo animals compared to those struggling with survival. Ultimately to fight and die becomes an enviable destiny compared to rotting in depressed, disheartened inaction.

Preparing to open the Homebase

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David and Goliath: Children’s Unequal Battle for Refugee Protection

Mar 9th, 2011 | Advocacy | Comment

Jacqueline Bhabha
Jeremiah Smith Jr Lecturer in Law, Harvard Law School

Tuesday, 15 March 2011
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Room LG102, LG1 Floor, KK Leung Building, The University of Hong Kong

The lecture will discuss the obstacles to asylum that children, particularly unaccompanied or separated children, encounter. It will argue that children, contrary to what one might expect, face greater obstacles than adults in securing permanent protection when they flee persecution. This is not, as has often been argued, because they are invisible, but because policy makers and implementing officials are ambivalent about the appropriate stance towards these minors. They are torn between a protective approach, based on the children’s position as unaccompanied, alien minors, and a punitive position based on the perception that these children are in essence juvenile delinquents, or threats.  The lecture will consider some recent human rights case-law relevant to child asylum seekers, and probe the extent to which the notion of “child persecution” has been developed.

Jacqueline Bhabha is the Jeremiah Smith Jr lecturer in law at Harvard Law School, the Director of Research at the François Bagnoud Xavier Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard and the University Adviser on Human Rights Education to the Provost at Harvard University. She is also a lecturer on public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. From 1997 to 2001, she directed the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago.   She works on issues of transnational child migration, trafficking, adoption, children’s economic and social rights and citizenship and has published extensively on issues of migration, refugee protection, children’s rights and citizenship.
Please email Flora Leung at fkleung@hku.hk to reserve a place.

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