A unified screening system for asylum seekers that is due to be up and running by the end of this year remains a mystery, with NGOs saying that the government’s continued silence was “extremely disconcerting”. Proposed by the government and approved by a Legislative Council panel in July, the new unified screening mechanism (USM) would monitor torture claimants as well as those seeking asylum on the grounds of persecution or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment – “in one go”.
A government spokesman confirmed in a statement that it had set a deadline for the USM of the end of this year. “But since [July], we haven’t heard anything,” said Victoria Wisniewski Otero from the Refugee Advice Centre, at a seminar on the topic yesterday. “It’s worrying for the asylum seeker community here in Hong Kong and it’s creating a lot of anxiety.”
As Hong Kong is not subject to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the government currently screens torture claims only, meaning the local office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) has had to take on the task of screening those seeking asylum who are not necessarily doing so on the grounds of having been tortured.
However, the city has been a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture since 1992, and it cannot expel, return or extradite a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being tortured. Two Court of Final Appeal decisions that said the government could not rely on the UNHCR to screen asylum seekers prompted the government to push out the unified process.
Otero said the government had made an open invitation for suggestions from stakeholders in July, but none had heard back since submitting their opinions. “There is a lot of uncertainty on how the USM will run. There are no details about how the system will be set up,” she said. Ambrose Chiu Chun-ki, the assistant resettlement officer at the UNHCR, said the agency had been having negotiations with the government since July.
For six and a half years our situation is unchanged here. Each day we die and wake up again. Why? Because we don’t have any choice. We are very peaceful people. Everyone respects the law. We are only waiting for a fair decision from the Immigration Department.” – Tariq, Pakistan
The wasted eight years of mine. Nothing (can explain this). I don’t know how to explain that feeling. It’s so bad. You keep somebody here. He cannot work. He just stays at home. Now I have no future. I am just waiting for my two kids’ future. That’s all.” – Ibrahim, Togo
A fresh protest outside the offices of a government contractor dealing with the welfare of asylum seekers has passed off peacefully. More than 50 asylum seekers joined rights group Vision First to complain about a new distribution policy they say is leaving them hungry.
International Social Service Hong Kong (ISS-HK) recently increased the number of times asylum seekers can collect food from the service, from three to six times a month. But users of the service say they are not receiving any more food than they were before the increase.
One asylum seeker, who wished to be identified only as Jenat, said yesterday she could not manage to feed herself or her three children. “It’s punishing,” she said. “We can’t eat all the time, sometimes only once a day because we don’t have enough.” “Most of the service users are satisfied with this change,” said ISS-HK in response to the protest. “There are individuals who … consider it troublesome to collect their food six times a month.”
The contractor will address “legitimate” concerns, it said. “This new policy oppresses refugees through the manipulation of food supplies,” said Cosmo Beatson, executive director of Vision First. “The alteration [in collection times] masks a reduction in groceries supplied.” A previous demonstration ended in scuffles with police as protesters attempted to storm ISS-HK’s office.
Asylum seekers plan to go on hunger strike next month outside Legco offices ahead of the expected announcement by the government of sweeping changes to welfare provision.
Asylum seekers clashed with police in August after the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch refused to meet them. Photo: Felix Wong
The child of refugee parents from Africa looks on during a protest to demand changes to a food distribution that they say fail to meet refugee needs in Hong Kong on September 2013. Hong Kong may be one of Asia’s wealthiest banking and luxury hubs, but the picture is very different for hundreds of asylum seekers forced into slum-like conditions as they scrape a living in the city, say campaigners. AFP PHOTO / Philippe Lopez / Getty Images
Welfare department says asylum seekers are housed in non-residential accommodation. But police drop investigation into slum scandal
The Social Welfare Department has admitted its contractor in charge of asylum seekers’ welfare is housing clients in homes not fit to live in. However, police have dropped their investigation into how some asylum seekers came to be living in squalor due to a lack of evidence. A spokeswoman for the department said the contractor, the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch (ISS-HK), had asked more than 110 asylum seekers to move out of accommodation not fit for residential use. The result is a stand-off as clients are refusing to move.
“The ISS-HK has contacted more than 110 asylum seekers and refugees who are living in areas not meant for residential purposes and has been discussing alternative accommodation with them,” the spokeswoman said. “But they all prefer to stay in their current abodes, which they secured themselves. ISS-HK will continue to encourage them to move out and will mobilise the necessary resources to help them.”
It is believed the asylum seekers are reluctant to move because their homes – which would have been subject to ISS-HK approval – are relatively cheap. Even so, they often cost more than the ISS-HK housing allowance, and many of the asylum seekers have found jobs locally, albeit illegally, to help pay the extra cost.
News that police were dropping the investigation into asylum seekers’ living conditions delivered a blow to human rights advocates seeking to overhaul the city’s welfare system for these people. The degrading conditions in which some are living came to light when a man was rushed to hospital after drinking contaminated water. His home was then found to be a stinking old pigeon shed with no drinking water.
A police spokesman said: “The evidence obtained during the investigation has been seriously considered. As there is insufficient evidence to support the commission of any offence by any person, there will be no further investigation at this stage.” Adrielle Panares, ISS-HK’s migrants programme director, insisted no asylum seeker was living in inappropriate housing. “We are continuously monitoring the conditions of the clients, as per our practice. This means that we review each service user’s assistance every month, conduct home visits, and, with the service users, look into addressing their concerns and needs,” she said.
Robert Tibbo, a barrister specialising in human rights cases and a non-executive director of rights group Vision First, said ISS-HK was not taking responsibility. “This effort to move the asylum seekers out of a few identified slums was apparently an ad hoc attempt to make the issue of slums disappear,” he said. “Over many years, ISS has systematically placed asylum seekers into many slums located across Hong Kong.”
The welfare department declined to say how long the practice of accommodating asylum seekers in the makeshift rooms had been going on. A previous investigation by the South China Morning Post found hundreds of asylum seekers living in squalor in outlying areas of the New Territories. Rooms had no toilets or fresh drinking water but were paid for and approved by the ISS-HK.
The ISS-HK receives HK$203 million from the government to pay for asylum seekers’ welfare. The money, which is not given to them directly, covers rent, a pack of groceries every five days and other basic necessities. The budget increased more than 30 per cent this year because of the number of new ISS-HK clients requiring assistance.
Indian asylum seeker Gupta Raja’s makeshift home at a slum at Nai Wai, Tuen Mun. Photo: Sam Tsang
The wasted eight years of mine. Nothing (can explain this). I don’t know how to explain that feeling. It’s so bad. You keep somebody here. He cannot work. He just stays at home. Now I have no future. I am just waiting for my two kids’ future. That’s all.” – Ibrahim, Togo
