Refugees and Hong Kong

Robyn Kilpatrick
Amnesty International - Hong Kong

No refugee situation can be looked at in isolation and must be looked at in the international context. As members of both the international and local communities we must look towards solutions that ensure that asylum seekers are given durable and effective protection. In Hong Kong we have over 21,000 Vietnamese asylum seekers, and many members of our society just feel that they should "all go home". Hong Kong has maintained a policy of detention that many human rights groups have persistently stated is in flagrant breach of international refugee law, but disappointingly the Hong Kong and British Governments have kept to the policy. As a result of this policy, information reaching the asylum seekers has been severely restricted and many Vietnamese are therefore unable to look at their situation in the international context. The US Government undermined refugee protection by its treatment of both Haitian end Cuban asylum seekers. In Australia, another favoured resettlement country, there are provisions in the Migration Reform Act 1992, which allow for continuation of Australia's current policy of automatically detaining asylum-seekers who arrive at the border without prior authorization to enter the country.

In our region hundreds of Burmese refugees are being forcibly returned to Myanmar by Thai authorities. Many of those forced back are at grave risk of being ill-treated or tortured by Burmese government troops while being forced to serve as army porters. In Japan Chinese asylum-seekers are at grave risk of being forcibly returned to China. Distressingly, forcible repatriation is a daily occurrence, carried out by an increasing number of governments around the world, as feelings of racism, ethnic conflict and rising xenophobia are vented against refugees, whose lives have been irrevocably disrupted by persecution and whose lives have been irrevocably disrupted by persecution and brutality. It has become evident over the last few years, as demonstrated by the above examples, that governments are becoming less and less committed to the fundamental principals of international refugee law which have been built up since the Second World War.

Around the world we must look at the root causes of why people flee, and try to lessen the human rights violations that force people to leave everything that is familiar to them - their homes, livelihood, school, friends, cultural traditions, language. For us in Hong Kong, it is to easy just to say regarding the Vietnamese asylum seekers, "they all must go home". As human rights groups we have tried to work to ensure that people with genuine grievances are heard and listened to but many of our efforts have been seemingly of little use. The UNHCR is now saying that its resources are needed elsewhere, and few believe the Comprehensive Plan of Action has been a success. The remaining Vietnamese asylum seekers in Hong Kong have been found not to be a refugee under the United Nations definition. An "elaborate screening process" determined their status and they now have no legal right to remain in Hong Kong or be resettled in another country, and like thousands of others from all corners of the world, the only option according to Hong Kong Government is to return home, with options like "Track 2" not being considered by governments in the region.

A refugee situation that persists for years or even decades is not only a prescription for dependency, debilitation and demoralization, but also a continuing formula for instability. We need to work together in a humane and compassionate way to find a solutions for "our" refugee problems in Hong Kong and around the region that gives no one false hopes.