Refugees and asylum seekers: a definition
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion” (UNHCR 2011:3). While refugees refer to those who have undergone the process of refugee-status determination, asylum seekers are others who find themselves in the process of seeking asylum in a resettlement country, or who are going through the asylum process in a transition country that is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, as the case in Hong Kong (Gerritsen et al. 2006; Das and Chan 2013). Every refugee begins as an asylum seeker, but not every asylum seeker will become a refugee.
Refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has been a transitory point of choice for refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) since the Vietnamese refugee influx in the 1970’s, especially following the 9/11 episode where other countries have tightened their visa policies (Choy and Shi 2021; Mathews 2014). Owing to the lack of an internationally-recognized legal instrument that safeguards the rights and entitlements of refugees, however, vulnerable persons often find themselves in inefficacious systems for determining refugee status and for torture claims that prevent them from engaging in such activities as studying and working (Loper, 2010). Since March 2014, Hong Kong has been handling non-refoulement claims using the Unified Screening Mechanism. As of late October 2022, there were approximately 14,900 claimants remaining in Hong Kong for various reasons (Security Bureau and Immigration Department 2022). Given the political, social, and economic constraints imposed on RAS in Hong Kong, many of them have been trapped in a limbo status in connection with heir poor living conditions, loss of livelihoods, and enduring conditions of uncertainty. While waiting for their non-refoulment claim to be assessed, a process which can take decades, asylum seekers are not entitled to work and receive humanitarian assistance, well below the poverty line (Ramsden and Marsh 2014; Vecchio 2023); assistance include monthly rental allowances of HK$ 1,500 for adult and HK$ 750 for dependent child, HK$ 300 for utilities, petty cash for transportation and a food card of the value of HK$ 1,200 to be used in one supermarket chains only and restricted to limited items.
Young refugees in Hong Kong
Children are equally not entitled to legal residency nor to work. While they can access the public education system from kindergarten up to secondary school, the access is discretionary (Ng 2020) and not every expense is subsidized thus posing financial challenges to families. As for tertiary level, they can access universities as international students, this resulting in higher tuition fees compared to residents (UNHCR 2022); tertiary education is unaffordable to most unless they identify a donor to sponsor their education.
References
Photovoice trains participants in photo-taking and relies on photos (taken and selected by participants) and narratives (critical dialogue about photos in group settings); photovoice as a method has been widely used among marginalized populations to bring about awareness and positive change.
This photo-exhibition is the result of six workshops, in which young refugees aged 18–25 took photos of what immobility and hope meant to them and critically discussed them in group settings. Their experiences of being in limbo, at times lost, constrained, and defeated, emerged within a context that provides limited possibilities for them to learn, choose, and ultimately grow into adults. Yet hope emerged as a practice, even at times only a short-term endeavour, to find purpose and direction within and despite the constraints. During discussions, young refugees found both the commonality and uniqueness of their experiences and realized the shared dimensions of their struggles.
We would like to heartily thank our co-researchers who generously shared their stories and photos. Photographer and artist Faye Yingfei Liang provided photography training, expertise, and insightful comments throughout the project. We would like to acknowledge Branches of Hope, Christian Action Centre for Refugees, Justice Centre Hong Kong, Refugee Union, Right Of Abode University, and Eaton HK for their support of the project and exhibition. The exhibition is organized by the H.E.A.R. project team at the JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, CUHK, with the support of the Sustainable Development Goals Action Fund.