Refugee Week Hong Kong celebrates asylum seekers, raises awareness about their challenges
- Refugee Week Hong Kong this month aims to highlight the challenges and creativity of asylum seekers through music, poetry and other events
Asylum seekers and refugees fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries face many obstacles in Hong Kong. There are employment restrictions and barriers to receiving healthcare, while the process of getting settled in a third country can drag on for years.
Many experience immigration detention during their time in the city, where the conditions are poor and access to legal support limited.
To raise awareness of the challenges they face, Refugee Week Hong Kong will be held from June 17 to 23.
The event is part of a global initiative that started in Britain in 1998. Now in its third year, Refugee Week Hong Kong is a way to celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and other people seeking sanctuary.
This year’s theme, Our Home, is an important one, says Enver Solomon, CEO of the Britain-based Refugee Council and Refugee Week co-chair.
“Home, and the security and sense of belonging it provides, is easily taken for granted,” says Solomon.
