#CCP #ImmigrationPolicy
US to Bar Members of "Communist Party or any other totalitarian party" From Immigration

On Oct 2, 2020, the US Citizen and Immigration Serives (#USCIS) in their Policy Manual announced an "inadmissibility based on membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party". The new policy is likely to prevent Chinese Communist Party members from obtaining citizenship in the U.S.

Meanwhile, according to the Press Release of the US Department of State on Sept 20, 2020, the United States anticipates receiving more than 300,000 new refugees and asylum claims in Fiscal Year 2021. It is the first time Hong Kong is listed in the proposed refugee resettlement program.

The press release writes the aim of the program is to "assist refugees and other displaced people as close to their homes as possible until they can safely and voluntarily return to rebuild their lives, their communities, and their countries."

Image: Stand News

Source: US Department of State #Sept30; US Citizen and Immigration Services #Oct2

www.state.gov/transmission-of-the-presidents-report-to-congress-on-the-proposed-refugee-admissions-for-fiscal-year-2021/

www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-issues-policy-guidance-regarding-inadmissibility-based-on-membership-in-a-totalitarian-party

#Refugee

Canada begins granting asylum to Hong Kong protesters: Canadian press

The suppression of human rights under Hong Kong's national security law has drawn the concern of the international community. In tow with the UK and Australia, the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail indicated its country has also begun accepting Hong Kong pro-democracy activists claiming refugee status to seek asylum.

The Globe and Mail reported that in a letter dated 1 Sept, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada notified a couple in their 30s that the refugee protection division considered them to be "Convention refugees" and accepted their claims for asylum.
As defined by the United Nations, a "Convention refugee" is a person who cannot return to their home country due to a fear of persecution based on race, religion, political opinion, etc.

#HongKong #Canada #ProDemocracy #Activism #Asylum #ConventionRefugee #UnitedNations #Refugee #RefugeeStatus #Immigration #PoliticalPersecution

Source: Stand News #Oct07
https://bit.ly/36QsHcP

The Globe and Mail #Oct06
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-starts-accepting-hong-kong-activists-as-refugees/

#Asylum #Refugee
#Germany grants a 3-year refugee status to pro-democracy student protester from Hong Kong

Source: Stand News; Haven Assistance #Oct19

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/26088

#Asylum #Refugee
#Germany grants a 3-year refugee status to pro-democracy student protester from Hong Kong

Germany has officially granted a 3-year refugee status for a 22-year-old Hong Kong pro-democracy protester on October 14, 2020.

While the person was the first protester of Hong Kong's anti-extradition law movement to receive asylum in Germany, the country had received two Hong Kong activists, Ray Wong Toi-Yeung and Alan Li Tung-Sing, of #HongKongIndigenous.

This student of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) who was charged with riotting, fled Hong Kong last November.

In Germany, she had faced many hardships during the asylum application process. She had lived in refugee camps for nearly 11 months. During the time, she was hospitalised due to emotional issues and sexually assaulted by a refugee camp staff.

She expressed her gratitude towards the German government and hoped that the authorities could "consider simplifying the asylum application process for Hong Kong protesters, such as allowing them to choose freely their place of residence while waiting for the decision". She believed this would bring "great convenience and support" to the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

[Editor's note: "Haven Assistance" is a group founded by four Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in exile, namely Ray Wong in Germany, Simon Cheng in the UK, Lam Wing-kee in Taiwan and Leung Gai-ping in the US.]

Source: Stand News; Haven Assistance #Oct19
https://bit.ly/2ILVC7Z

https://www.facebook.com/104852664625056/posts/158219392621716/?extid=0&d=n

#HavenAssistance

Canada ready for large-scale evacuation of citizens in Hong Kong if needed

Canada’s top diplomate in Hong Kong says Ottawa has drawn up exhaustive plans for a mass evacuation of 300,000 Canadian citizens from Hong Kong if necessary, but added he can’t help local activists seeking for asylum at the consulate.

The House of Commons Special committee on Canada-China relations, Jeff Nankivell said that refugees could always make a claim in third countries. But, he acknowledged, the territory’s exit control could thwart some Hongkongers’ effort to leave.

Source: The Globe and Mail #Nov03

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-ready-for-large-scale-evacuation-of-citizens-in-hong-kong-if/

#Canada #Hongkong #refugee #evacuation

Malaysia Refuses to Extradite Uyghurs to China. Scholar Says Malaysia’s Move Might Anger Beijing

Reuters reported that the Malaysian government declared its stance in September this year to firmly refuse extraditing Uyghur refugees to China. South China Morning Post reported on November 15 that the move could drive Uyghurs to seek refuge in Southeast Asian Muslim countries. The report also said that this move represented Malaysia’s declaration of Uyghurs’ status for the first time, and contrasted its neighbouring country Indonesia. A professor from George Washington University has said, “This is likely to anger Beijing, but it is a responsible move.”

The report said that the government of Malaysia, a country with the majority of its population being Muslims, mentioned in a response to the Parliament in September that even if requests were to come directly from Beijing, they would not repatriate Uyghurs who have sought refuge in Malaysia. This move represented Malaysia’s declaration of Uyghur’s status for the first time, and contrasted its neighbouring country Indonesia. Last month, Indonesia repatriated three Uyghurs back to China.

#Malaysia #China #Indonesia #Uyghurs #Muslim #Refugee

Source: Stand News #Nov15

https://bit.ly/2KGu3xX

#NationalSecurityLaw #Asylum
HK Pro-democracy activist and Former Lawmaker #SixtusLeung seeks political asylum in US

Sixtus Leung Chung-heng told a reporter on December 11, 2020 that he has fled Hong Kong and is seeking political asylum in the United States.

On his Facebook, Leung declared the severance of all ties with his family in Hong Kong and resignation from his position and duties at the pro-independence political party #Youngspiration.

The former Youngspiration member said that after being "illegitimately deprived of his representation and voting rights", he'd been bankrupted, imprisoned and harassed under the National Security Law.

Leung opinioned that conditions have deteriorated since China forcefully imposed security laws in June, 2020 in Hong Kong. “Every day when we wake up, when we look at the mobile (phone) screen, the issue of first thing that pop up is: who of our friends are being arrested; who among our friends is being sentenced to jail."

See Haven Assistance's Statement:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27241

Leung served four weeks in prison earlier in 2020 after being convicted of taking part in an unlawful assembly while trying to push his way into a Legco meeting four years ago. He also faces bankruptcy proceedings after Legco demanded him to return almost one million dollars in salary and other funding that he received prior to his disqualification.

Leung said in Washington that he hopes to meet with advisers of President-elect Joe Biden to urge him to ramp up pressure on China, pointing out that the United States should target Hong Kong's financial sector with tougher sanctions to deprive China of its 'ATM' and force Beijing to the negotiating table over its crackdown on the SAR.

He also suggested action to block Chinese banks from using Swift, a network used by banks globally to make financial transactions, and also target Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US currency "to try to force China to back to the negotiation table".

Source: Haven Assistance; RTHK; Reuters; #Dec11
https://t.me/rthk_new_e/14683

#Oppression #HongKongProtests #DQ #LegCo #US #Refugee #HavenAssistance

#HumanRights #Poll #FreedomofSpeech
Over half respondents say Hong Kong is facing humanitarian crisis

The Department of Asian and Policy Studies of the Education University of Hong Kong (#EduHK) revealed findings of its biannual survey findings on December 8, 2020.

Findings showed an increasingly positive attitude towards asylum-seekers and refugees, alongside greater support for granting the right to work after remaining in Hong Kong for more than 5 year, and their right of abode for children.

Regarding Hongkongers’ views on human rights, the survey showed that the top concern of Hongkongers remained freedom of speech (17%), followed by police abuse of power (10%) and political freedom (10%). It is worth noting that no option was provided to this question. In 2018, excessive use of police power was not mentioned among respondents.

51% of survey respondents agreed that Hong Kong is facing a #HumanitarianCrisis.

The survey was carried out in the wake of the intense controversy surrounding the now-defunct extradition bill, Principal Investigator Dr Isabella Ng believes that the social unrest in the past year has had a major role to play in causing widespread apprehension towards the human rights situation in Hong Kong.

“Amidst the failure of the Hong Kong government to enter into genuinely constructive dialogue and cooperation with the community to defuse the hostility amongst different groups, human rights-related issues have been brought to the fore in the territory, once known for its tolerance, effective governance, and freedom,” Ng says.

The poll was commissioned by the Department of Asian and Policy Studies of The Education University of Hong Kong and wss conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (#PORI) between 6 April and 23 April, 2020.

The survey interviewed 1,002 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese aged over 18, equivalent to a response rate of 57.1%.

Source: Inmediahk.net #Dec8
https://bit.ly/3mVDFTJ

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Read More

Press Material of the Survey result on Hong Kong People’s view and understanding on the #Refugee and Human Rights issues

https://www.eduhk.hk/aps/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/English_Press-Release.pdf

#Refugee #PoliticalAsylum
Pro-democracy protesters left Hong Kong: fear for unfair trial and growing oppression

Source: Apple Daily #Jan14

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#Refugee #PoliticalAsylum
Pro-democracy protesters left Hong Kong: fear for unfair trial and growing oppression

As in 2021, tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters involved in anti-ELAB movement has been arrested and many have been put behind bars in Hong Kong.

Since the Chinese Government tightened their grip in Hong Kong through imposition of #NationalSecurityLaw in 2020, many pro-democracy Hongkongers attempted to flee the city to Taiwan, among them were the 12 youths arrested by Chinese authorities in August 2020. Ten of them faced prison sentence on charges of illegally crossing border, while two minors were sent back to Hong Kong for trial.

Apple Daily revealed that five other protesters successfully fled to Taiwan in 2020. With assistance from many people in the United States and #Taiwan, they arrived in the #US in mid-January 2021 and are planning to seek political asylum.

One of them told the newspaper in an interview that there will no longer be fair trial in Hong Kong after the National Security Law takes effect. Fear of oppression and arrest, he set foot on an one-way journey to leave Hong Kong.

Source: Apple Daily, #Jan16
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20210116/KJMWCEW7LRE7FH45CMXPNJENKA/

#Totalitarianism #Regime #PoliceState

#PoliceState #PoliticalSuppression
Hong Kong government criticizes foreign authorities for "sheltering criminals and imposing harm on community safety"
#NathanLaw: How about the White-clad mobsters in Yuen Long?

Former Chairman of Demosistō Nathan Law was offered political asylum by the British Home Office. The HKSAR government soon issued a statement accusing foreign governments for sheltering criminals, and ignoring the threat they impose on local communities.

Regarding the issue, Nathan Law questioned if Hong Kong government was “covering for the white-clad mobsters in Yuen Long 721 Attack who attacked citizens and endanger community safety”. He stated that, if the government issued letters to countries offering asylum, saying that the sheltered Hongkongers were threats to their safety, those countries would reply, “You are out of your mind”.

Law stated on April 7, 2021 that he was offered political asylum by the British Home Office, acknowledging his identity as a refugee. This elicited responses from both Chinese and Hong Kong government.

Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Ferign Affairs Information Department, criticised that the British government “openly stood up for pro-Hong Kong Independence individuals, and offered shelter for the wanted”, which was an offence to international diplomatic relations and the Rule of Law they signified.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government issued a “solemn declaration”, stating that they opposed to the offering of shelter to criminals from any country, and that if they turned a blind eye to their “crimes”, they were ignoring their threat to the local society and residents, and would end up “reaping what they have sown”.

Source: Stand News #Apr10

https://www.thestandnews.com/international/%E6%B8%AF%E5%BA%9C%E6%8C%87%E5%A4%96%E5%9C%8B%E5%8C%85%E5%BA%87%E7%BD%AA%E7%8A%AF%E5%8F%AF%E5%B0%8D%E5%B1%85%E6%B0%91%E9%80%A0%E6%88%90%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E5%A8%81%E8%84%85-%E7%BE%85%E5%86%A0%E8%81%B0-%E5%85%83%E6%9C%97%E7%99%BD%E8%A1%A3%E4%BA%BA%E5%91%A2/

#YuenLong721 #PoliticalAsylum #Refugee #Hongkongers