Refugees in Hong Kong

Refugees In Hong Kong

So Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifies that "everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum abroad from persecution." At the end of April 2006, the UN refugee Agency, also called the UNHCR stated that there were 1473 asylum seekers in Hong Kong waiting for a decision. 24,7% of them were women and 23,9% were children. The Hong-Kong UNCHR receives 150 to 160 applications a month. Ninety percent of the asylum seekers in Hong-Kong come from south Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippine, Nepal), 9% come from Africa (Congo, Liberia..) and 1% come from other regions. There are few Non Governmental Organizations who take care of these refugees in Hong-Kong. The most active one is Christian Action which provides shelter, food, counsel and medical aid. RSD Watch estimated that of 798 cases decided by UNHCR in Hong-Kong in 2004, there was an 18% success rate. Some cases can make an appeal, but due to the UNCHR's backlog, some asylum seekers spend years in HK waiting for their case to be processed.

Read more about Refugees In Hong Kong:  Who Is A Refugee?, Assistance To The Refugees, Domestic Law and Treaties, The Task of The UNCHR

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