Vision First assists refugee members from all over the world who are in need of safety and support. They come from countries where conflict and persecution are commonplace and leave behind their homes, friends and families because their lives are in grave danger. As a small organisation, Vision First currently provides assistance to only 10 percent of the total 5000 refugee population in Hong Kong.
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[wc_accordion_section title=”OUR WORKING DEFINITION OF “REFUGEE””]
Vision First maintains that a refugee is any person who seeks temporary refuge in Hong Kong, either by claiming asylum at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), or by claiming they would be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if returned to their country of origin, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT). We make no legal distinction between “refugee” and “asylum-seeker”, which is generally understood as a person who claims asylum but whose claim has yet to be positively determined. As a welfare agency serving individuals who may access either one or both the UNHCR or the CAT mechanisms, our definition of refugee therefore encompasses asylum-seekers, UNHCR recognized refugees, and CAT claimants.
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[wc_accordion_section title=”refugees”]
Vision First maintains that a refugee is any person who seeks temporary refuge in Hong Kong, either by claiming asylum at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), or by claiming they would be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if returned to their country of origin, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT). We make no legal distinction between “refugee” and “asylum-seeker”, which is generally understood as a person who claims asylum but whose claim has yet to be positively determined. As a welfare agency serving individuals who may access either one or both the UNHCR or the CAT mechanisms, our definition of refugee therefore encompasses asylum-seekers, UNHCR recognized refugees, and CAT claimants.
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[wc_accordion_section title=”asylum seekers”]
Asylum seekers are individuals who are seeking protection but whose claims for official refugee status have not yet been assessed. This is often due to a lack of official documentation supporting the asylum seeker’s claim. Provisions are made under both Hong Kong and international law for individuals to seek asylum even without passports, visas or other official personal documents as stated in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Asylum seekers should not be confused with economic migrants. An economic migrant normally leaves a country voluntarily to seek a better life. Should he or she decide to return home, they would continue to receive the protection of his or her government. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes.
“Refugees are not illegal immigrants, they are not fortune hunters. They are protected people who have passed through the gate of official scrutiny. These people are for all intents and purposes – through no fault of their own – stranded in Hong Kong and have nowhere else to go. Allowing this (suffering) to happen amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on the part of the Hong Kong government, in contravention of the Convention Against Torture.” Robert Whitehead.
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[wc_accordion_section title=”stateless persons”]
Stateless persons are individuals who are not citizens of any country. They might have been born in regions where citizenship is contested, or they might have been stripped of this right by an oppressive government, or deprived of citizenship for protesting against an authoritarian regime.
Citizenship is the legal bond between a government and an individual, and allows for certain political, economic, social and other rights of the individual, as well as the responsibilities of both government and citizen. A person can become stateless due to a variety of reasons, including sovereign, legal, technical or administrative decisions or oversights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underlines that “Everyone has the right to a nationality.”
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[wc_accordion_section title=”vision first members”]
Vision First members are refugees who have been introduced to Vision First as individuals or families in need of basic support. Vision First members come from countries across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. As a small organization, Vision First currently provides assistance for only 6% percent of the total population of refugees currently in Hong Kong. The focus is on providing quality services for current members with the aim of extending those services to the greater refugee community with the help of greater funding. To date 23 Vision First members have been resettled by the UNHCR since we opened in 2009. This is a strong indicator that Vision First is assisting legitimate refugees awaiting official refugee status recognition. The hope is to see Vision First’s 400 members resettled in a third country to regain their rights and rebuild their lives.
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[wc_accordion_section title=”the situation in hong kong”]
Hong-Kong has no domestic legislation to determine the fate of refugees as Hong Kong has not signed the 1951 Geneva Convention or the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (The Refugee Convention). As Hong Kong does not have its own refugee status determination system, the UNHCR in Hong Kong is responsible for determining refugee status claims pursuant to the mandate given in the statute to provide international protection to refugees.
Due to UNHCR resource constraints, refugees often wait over a year before obtaining their initial interview. It takes anywhere between one and five years for refugee claims to be processed by the UNHCR, and some complex cases can be left forever in limbo. Once refugee status is established, refugees are resettled in a third country since Hong Kong Government does not recognize their legal refugee status. This process, even for those who eventually receive official recognition of their status, not to mention those who are left in limbo, is a long, drawn out and frustrating experience.
During the years awaiting UNHCR status determination, refugees scrape by depending exclusively on the kindness of fellow refugees and the generosity of charitable intervention by NGOs and churches. Given these desperate circumstances, it is apparent how refugees, caught in a legal holding pattern, without the ability to study or work to support themselves, are in a vulnerable position. Vision First helps to fill this gap by providing vital, immediate support along with the tools for future self-reliance.
“Let us remember that a bogus asylum-seeker is not equivalent to a criminal; and that an unsuccessful asylum application is not equivalent to a bogus one.” Kofi Annan
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