Archive
Lost in asylum or lost in analysis?
May 31st, 2012 | Advocacy, Media | Comment
The Standard, “Lost in Asylum” by Eddie Luk, published May 18, 2012
An informed discussion about refugee issues in the news is welcome, however several points need clarification in The Standard’s article. The story, while providing interesting information on specific crimes, fails to make a clear distinction between ‘South Asian criminals’ and ‘South Asian asylum-seekers’, regrettably bunching both in one damaging misconception. The examples chosen by the reporter to support his views are at best misleading – as he labels everyone “South Asians” – and are further murking the waters of stereotypes and intolerance. The fact that some asylum-seekers are hired by criminals may be true, but what does this say about the asylum process? Could a previously honest individual turn to crime after years of abusive marginalization? What desperate conditions is she forced to endure? What support does he receive in the country of asylum? How can she meet financial obligations when barred from working legally?
The harsh reality is asylum-seekers, after selling food rations and what is salvaged from garbage, are *forced* to offer manpower in the informal economy of 3D jobs. This is the dirty, dangerous and demeaning work that citizens turn their nose on, but needs to be performed for the economy to function efficiently. On occasion these tasks are controlled by triad societies, making the connecting between the world of asylum and the world of crime, that slips into predictable vicious circle. We can’t simplistically blame the supply where there is pernicious demand, especially when such demand is structural and pre-exists the arrival of asylum-seekers. In other words, when a CAT claimant commits a felony, he relieves a domestic gangster from dirtying his hand – the culprits might have changed, but sadly the law would still have been broken. One could argue that South Asian criminals accepting lower-than-local-pay says more about the globalization of crime than lawless asylum-seekers. Similarly the city has witnessed trigger-happy Mainlanders running amok on the streets, yet we don’t equate these with the big-spenders in the malls, though both entered under the same Immigration scheme. The analogy could continue with Thai massage ladies entering on tourist visas and other common abuses of the Immigration Ordinance. To this end, this article is unconvincing in shedding light on the criminality of asylum-seekers in general and South Asian ones in particular.
Moreover, the story’s arguments about asylum abuse are laughable. The evidence does point towards most CAT claimants delaying their case with stalling tactics, like failing to show up, presenting late evidence, calling sick, changing lawyers or phones, etc. However, is this malicious behaviour or a plausible survival strategy? Let’s imagine being in their uncomfortable shoes and facing such bleak prospects. For example, if you were a Tamil Srilankan and were about to be deported to face torture our ImmD doesn’t consider ‘likely’ would you cooperate with procedures? If you were a Pakistani fleeing tribal/Taleban/tyrannical persecution, would you facilitate your return into harm’s way? We might note these individuals are acutely aware every single torture claim of 1,717 was rejected, between Jan 2010 and Apr 2012, leading to immediate deportation procedures. They know there was one success in 2500 cases, which means the odds of success are an unreachable 2500 to 1. Indeed why are we surprised claimants resort to every legal stratagem to delay the inevitable? In substance, many stall their cases, not because they are unfounded (maybe some are), but because the system is flawed and designed to invariably fail everyone. This raises the question: how can 2500 claimants all be liars? Meanwhile, it’s understandable that anyone fearing for her life delays deportation, even if at times such behaviour might be construed as abusing the system. Why should we be surprised that 5.8% of rejected claimants were prosecuted for overstaying or illegally remaining? Rather it’s surprising the percentage isn’t higher with such widespread fear of returning home. Perhaps we might inquire how CIC detention numbers are rising and how many volunteered for repatriation. Predictably, until we see changes in CAT results we won’t see asylum-seekers rushing in to complete interview processes.
Refugee Health Clinic
May 24th, 2012 | Refugee Community, VF updates, programs, events | Comment
Always leading by innovation, Vision First is pleased to announce Hong Kong first “Refugee Health Clinic”. This new program includes medical examinations, medicines and referrals for refugees, whose suffering is frequently prolonged by bigotry and suspicion against darker skin prevalent at public hospitals. Indeed, the motivation behind this initiative is the racial wedge, contrary to the Hippocratic Oath, perpetuating a two-tier medical service that makes non-ID-card-holders feel most unwelcome at emergency rooms. These are the only facilities available to those who cannot book public or private doctors. After collaborative talks with Dr. Fan Ning an independent service was launched to meet refugees’ medical needs. The difficulties refugees encounter at hospitals are well-known and hard to address: racism, discrimination, cultural ignorance, hands-off examinations, welfare misinformation, cashier restrictions and the bitterly lamented “Panadol Solution”, i.e. one medication for any illnesses from cancer or sore throat.
Today we are proud to launch a pilot program to bring expert medical care to our members, first, and the broader refugee community, later. Dr. Fan Ning (Surgeon Yan Chai Hospital, President MSF Hong Kong) will set up a mobile clinic at our First Street center on alternate Saturdays (every Saturday from mid July) with volunteer doctors, nurses, essential instrument and medication. This primary care will include: medical consultation and examination, health education on hygiene and lifestyle, referral system, medication and follow-ups in person and by phone/email. An initial team of volunteer doctors and nurses will be expanded to meet the needs of members and non-members following a six month pilot program that will start on 2 June 2012. We are now looking for citizen volunteers to help coordinate this activity that will develop into one of our service backbones in the coming months. Finally, dear members, if you need to see the doctor, please SMS your case-worker to make an appointment – thank you.
I shouldn’t be alive
May 20th, 2012 | Personal Experiences | Comment
My name is Michael and I’m a Torture Claimant from East Africa. After witnessing the murder of my brother and sister I was sure the death squads wanted me dead. I said a hurried goodbye to my parents and escaped my country and became a refugee. I travelled for six months, crossed many states and went through hell before finding a safe place. The most difficult border crossing proved the last one. I tried three times and each time I was rejected. By then I ran out of money and options. I lived day by day with the kindness of strangers. I begged for food. I slept under flyovers. My life had spun out of control. I was thousands of miles from home and no choice but to continue. I prayed John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” I roamed the streets and sleep under lamp posts for safety. One night my last bag was stolen and I was left with just the clothes I wore and a passport hidden in my trousers. I was getting sicker by the day, unaware I was diabetic at the time.
Without cash to get smuggled across, I walked along the border looking for a weak spot. The boundary wall was ten meters high and always guarded. I was desperate to leave that country and determined to find a way across on foot. It was crazy, but I couldn’t just die in that country. My only option was to sneak through a military base inside which the wall wasn’t covered with electrified barbed wire. I studied the sentinels routines for two nights before I found the courage to try. I slipped into the militarized zone, keeping to the shadows, away from armed guards who rigidly watched straight ahead, not to the sides. I climbed atop a barrack and carefully cross the rooftop, treading warily over wires I didn’t know were “High Tension” until I slid off the roof reading the warning sign! Touching one would have electrocuted me and I’d stepped over several! With a construction plank I scaled the wall, reaching for the top with the tips of my fingers. Then I jumped to the other side hurting my ankles, but adrenaline kept me going. Tragically a border patrol spotted me and, since I was unable to run, arrested me. They gave me bread as I was so hungry I could hardly stand up. They took my photo and escorted me back to the other side in the morning. I had crossed the wall, but I hadn’t made it to safety. I was imprisoned, stripped naked, held in a tiny, disgusting cell until interrogation. I wasn’t afraid. When you are not guilty and that desperate, you are not normal. You don’t even feel human, you have no shame, no reason to hide anything. You live minute by minute aware you might not survive the night. The guards wanted to know how I crossed over, so I took them to the barracks, where I’m sure soldiers got into serious trouble. I demonstrated what I did and showed the plank I had used. They were astonished, but this time they didn’t let me climb for fear I would bolt over. They took a video of the entire process and there was a lot of shouting. I was jailed for many days, left dirty, naked and hungry. Conditions were so bad I looked forward to begging on the streets again.
When I was finally released I walked east for two days to another village. There was big construction works for a two-level bridge erected across the border. I figured this was the place for me to try again. I watched the area for one week, scavenging for food and sleeping in the bushes. It rained heavily, thick mud everywhere, it was miserable and grim. What worried me was feeling sicker every day. I knew it was now or never. During a thunderstorm, which kept the guards inside, I decided to make my dash for the border. I waded through mud until two guards spotted me and strangely ran away. I didn’t know why until they returned with what looked like a hundred shouting soldiers with flashlights and furious dogs. I ran for my life dumping my shoes to be more silent. There was no way of make it across the exposed, half-constructed bridge. I quickly climbed up a dark pylon and hung on a pipe like a bat afraid to look down at the pitch black waters below. That scared me to death as I cannot swim. What was worse? To crash on the sidewall, drown in the sea or get beaten to death? I clung for my dear life for hours. I prayed. I didn’t want to die on that bridge. I started to accept my horrible destiny and dreaded most the thought of being mauled by dogs. Hours passed. The guards looked everywhere, climbed a few pylons, never mind. The beams of flashlights passed by me, but never stopped and by some miracle I escaped detection. After three or four hours they left. Shortly before daybreak I dared to descended. I crawled across the rest of the bridge from hiding to hiding, dashing when hidden. The structure connects two countries and on the other side the security was better organized. They observed the commotion from a guard-house and must have assumed the intruder was arrested. I watched their routines and, timing them, dashed across to safety with my last reserve of energy – I had made it to safety.
Nerves shaking, muscles tensing with dehydration, I climbed a hill to find shelter in the trees. The morning sunshine woke me in a ditch curled up next to a snake. I leaped up in shock. I’m absolutely petrified by snakes! In a hungry, sickly daze I descended to a village where I ate from a stinky rubbish bin. I washed off mud and dirt in an open sewer, then stumbled to a nearby shop. There I took bread off a shelf, unwrapped it and ate it like a ravished dog, thinking nothing of those around me. When you are truly desperately hungry, then you understand what Gandhi once said, “To the hungry man, God must come in the form of bread.” An old lady came over to watch me. I was crying, my body shook uncontrollably although I was drenched with sweat. I cannot imagine what she thought and why she didn’t scream and call the police. She knew I was at the end of my rope and took pity of me. She paid for my food, gave me a pair of flip-flops and helped me board a bus. Two hours later I was in Yaumatei. I had entered Hong Kong and found refuge after half a year on the run. I am one of very few who managed to flee into Hong Kong without any documents. What happened that night still baffles me. There was no way I could evade a military search with dogs, but I did. There was no way I could hang on pipes for hours (heights horrify me), but I did. There was no way I could outsmart not one, but two border crossings barefoot and exhausted, but I did. When I later spent five weeks in Queen Elizabeth Hospital with diabetes and a string of related symptoms, I realized that I shouldn’t be alive to tell my story.
Government response to VF queries
May 17th, 2012 | Advocacy | Comment
| Panel on Security (Agenda) 8 May 2012 |
| Meeting on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, at 2:30 pm in Conference Room 1 of the Legislative Council Complex |
Revised agenda as at 4 May 2012
I.Confirmation of minutes of previous meeting
(2:30 pm – 2:35 pm) LC Paper No. CB(2)1868/11-12
(issued vide LC Paper No. CB(2)1869 /11-12 on 3 May 2012)
Minutes of meeting on 3 January 2012
II.Information paper issued since the last meeting
(2:35 pm – 2:40 pm) LC Paper No. CB(2)1804/11-12(02) (issued on 23 April 2012)
Response to the queries raised by Mr Cosmo BEATSON, Executive Director of Vision First, about the subsidy of the Government to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provided by the Administration
“Hence, there is no question of the Government subsidizing the UNHCR
in Hong Kong or allowing the latter to remit funds overseas”
W H Chow for Secretary for Security
BBC: Ivy League education free on the web
May 16th, 2012 | Advocacy, Media, VF updates, programs, events | Comment
Many school children shed sweat and tears to pursue the privilege of a top university education. But only a lucky few will make the grade and then they will have to fund it. The tech world however is full of visionaries intent on disrupting traditional establishments. BBC Click’s Sumi Das reports on a brand new project which is already causing ripples around the globe as it is making a top notch education available to anyone, anywhere and for free.
“I have waited many years to see something like this that would empower working people, poor people, and isolated ones, to learn at the top level from the best in a more accessible way.”
http://www.udacity.com/
http://www.udemy.com/
http://mitx.mit.edu/
http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/
https://www.coursera.org/
Against a culture of suspicion
May 13th, 2012 | Advocacy | Comment
Well-intentioned refugee advocates on occasion employ restrictive categories to distinguish “refugees” from “economic migrants”, as if these two groups weren’t deeply linked. This labeling, made to benefit genuine versus bogus refugees, confuses already murky waters and jeopardizes both refugee and torture claims.
We note that some comments posted on the Hong Kong Refugee Information YouTube Channel are not shared by the refugee community. When watching some videos, refugees lament how bleak their future appears in the light of a mutually exclusive dichotomy that sorts genuine refugees from economic migrants. Their experiences, perspectives, motivations for travelling faraway in search of refuge, should not be simplistically framed within a purported (and futile) contest between two rival groups. Real world situations are more complex than plain labels that define refugees as champions of honesty and economic migrants as scheming abusers.
When reality is fairly appraised, a humanitarian spirit recognizes that any individual has the right to seek refuge for a combination of reason which may also include ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION. There are numerous cases where economic hardship is either inflicted or condoned by states unable/unwilling to prevent it for reasons in the Refuge Convention, namely, race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. In other words, when oppressive persecution cripples the basic right to livelihood, one is inexorably forced to migrate to survive both physically and economically. Further, every refugee constantly weighs the economic implications of living abroad without resources, painfully aware his survival and his family’s well-being depend on the host country’s financial strength. (i.e. How much will it cost? How will I sustain myself? Will I find work? Can I send money home?) In ultimate analysis, people escape abroad to survive (primary reason) and, by definition, survival in a monetized world include economic decisions (secondary reason). That’s why nobody flees to a country in a worse economic condition than his own!
Moreover, due consideration must be given to the fact most refugees don’t have an academic knowledge of asylum or a procedural grasp of effective refuge application. Consequently, when asked by authorities why they fled abroad, most fail to distinguish economic deprivation from its systemic causes. Thus, on first investigation, they appear to seek economic benefits, but instead their hardship results from persecution according to convention reasons – the symptoms might be economic, but the illness is intolerable oppression. One of our members (incidentally a recognized refugee now) was unceremoniously shipped back to Addis Abeba after telling Immigration, “I come study English.” What he intended was, “I cannot speak English and need to learn your language to tell my story”, perhaps unaware of interpretation.
It is our opinion that refugee advocacy should not blame economic migrants for abusing the refugee system. Instead we ought to be mindful that “economic reasons” and “asylum reasons” are rarely mutually exclusive. Behind an individual’s suffering there is a complex current of social, political, racial, religious, cultural and economic adversity that propels one to seek protection, as well as a better life, abroad. A simple question like “Why aren’t there rich refugees?” underscores the reality that economics always play a part in asylum claims, as affluence is generally a trump card against persecution.
Accordingly, Vision First is against a CULTURE OF SUSPICION that is deep-rooted in Hong Kong and the rest of the world. We believe everyone has the right to seek asylum in another country and have her claim carefully and fairly evaluated. Vision First supports Tribunal 12 in its effort to hold governments accountable for the suffering caused by this culture of suspicion that continually violates the human rights of refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers. http://tribunal12.org/
Our donation flyer reaches CNN
May 8th, 2012 | Advocacy, Personal Experiences, Refugee Community | Comment
Hi Cosmo,
A friend forwarded an email from you about how Vision First needs donated clothes and household items. I am doing some Spring Cleaning. Would someone be able to come to my building to pick up some donated items? I can have them ready by this Friday or Saturday. I live on Hong Kong Island — very close to an MTR stop. Is there any need for professional work clothes — like ladies’ business jackets?
Let me know — thank you!
Pauline Chiou
Anchor/Correspondent
CNN International
Here is the flyer that is securing daily donations to our very busy centre – please email it to your friends, thank you! And here is a Press Pack with more information about programs, members and how we grow organically with community support 🙂
Hong Kong Refugee Information YouTube Channel Launched
May 6th, 2012 | Personal Experiences, Refugee Community, VF updates, programs, events | Comment
Where can my child receive free tutoring classes? Where can I get free legal advice? Where can I receive free counseling services? If refugees in Hong Kong ever want to know the answers to these questions and more, visit our multi-lingual YouTube channel It provides useful information on legal and welfare matters. We interviewed social workers, academics and NGOs who have extensive knowledge of the refugee situation in Hong Kong,
Before recording the videos, we spent some time speaking with refugees to find out what information would be useful while in Hong Kong, in particular for those who are new to the city. One of our videos asks: “What do I do if I need to see a doctor?” Given the complicated process, having it explained in a video will help. The videos on legal issues clarify in simple language what CAT is, outline refugee rights, and much more.
Language can be a barrier, especially since refugees come to Hong Kong from all over the world. For each video, we added transcripts that can be translated with YouTube’s captions function so that videos are more accessible to people more comfortable in other language. This means you can click on the captions button on the bottom right of each video and turn on subtitles available in over 40 languages including French, Hindu, Urdu, etc.
The channel is created for refugees currently living in Hong Kong. We hope that by providing important and vital information on a friendly platform, we will make refugees’ lives a little easier. The channel is only as good as its audience. It’s only useful if the videos are watched by the refugee community. Please comment and give us feedback. If you find any information missing or have any suggestions, please let us know. We want it to be as useful as possible.
Follow us on Twitter, ‘Like’ us on Facebook, or +1 our Google+ page to spread the word!
* The channel was supported through a Hong Kong University Knowledge Exchange grant of HKD$3,000.
William Fitzgerald
Contact: hongkong.refugees@gmail.com
Rooftop Garden idea
May 3rd, 2012 | VF updates, programs, events | Comment
Dear Ms. Sturman and Ms. Flanders,
I am a student at Renaissance College in HK and was given your contact information by my teacher, Kathryn Bignold. I am very interested in (and in admiration of) the work you do at Vision First. I am particularly interested in the food services you offer and have a project proposal for you. I would like to start an ‘urban garden’ with Vision First from which the vegetables/fruits are used in the food services you provide. I’d like to lead a group of students who start a garden at Vision First and instruct the AS/Rs to maintain the garden. I haven’t visited your facilities, but an unoccupied roof would be ideal for a garden. If you think this project is possible or are interested in it, I would love to meet with you to discuss any potential plans for the project. Thank you for your time and I hope everything is going well at Vision First!
Sincerely,
CN
