More Hongkongers apply to be refugees in Australia as security law passes
Protesters involved in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy
movement are applying for Australia’s protection in growing numbers, official
Australian government data suggests.
In March, 27 Hong Kong special administrative region
passport holders applied for permanent protection visas. The following month,
17 more filed claims, even as the total number of protection visa lodgments
fell dramatically with Australia’s international border closure.
The numbers are higher than in the same period the
previous year. Just six Hong Kong passport holders applied for an Australian
refugee visa in March 2019, and eight in April.
Jane Poon, a representative of pro-democracy group
Australia-Hong Kong Link, told Guardian Australia her organisation was helping
several young Hong Kong men seek asylum in Australia.
The men are “frontline” protesters with the
pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and some faced charges arising out of the
protests that have gripped Hong Kong over the past year, she said.
Poon said her group feared that a harsh new national
security law – reportedly passed by Beijing on Tuesday – could lead to more
arrests and charges. She suggested the law would drive more people to consider
applying for protection.
“Everyone who has been arrested by the police, even
if they were released without any conditions, they also face the dangers of
prosecution,” Poon said.
Poon said the men she was assisting were in their
20s and already in Australia. Some were university students.
The available statistics show that protection claims
from Hong Kong passport holders began to climb in September last year.
Thirteen applied in September, 27 in October, 18 in
November and 12 in December. Between March and August 2019, no more than eight
people applied for protection from Hong Kong each month.
Australia’s international border closed in late
March. The total number of protection visa claims fell in April by about a
quarter, from 2,177 in March to 1,529.
Sarah Dale, the director of the Refugee Advice and
Casework Service, said she would never have expected to receive refugee
applicants from Hong Kong previously. “Certainly, that has and will change,”
she said, though her organisation does not have any Hong Kong clients yet.
Dale said that whether a person applies for a
protection visa will depend on their circumstances, and it can sometimes be
easier to seek a different kind of visa even if someone is facing persecution.
Poon said the men she is assisting are receiving
thorough legal advice before submitting their asylum applications. They have
been advised that protection visa applications can be very slow, with a wait of
around a year to even have an initial interview with the department.
The security law has prompted international
conversations about accepting Hong Kong residents to live in other democratic
countries. British prime minister Boris Johnson has suggested he is prepared to
give nearly 3 million Hong Kong citizens the right to live and work in the UK.
His foreign secretary has asked Australia to consider “burden-sharing” if the
law leads to a “mass exodus” from Hong Kong.
In the face of international and domestic pressure
to commit to opening the door to people from Hong Kong, the Australian
government has said only that it will “continue to welcome” Hong Kong
residents.
Poon said that Australia-Hong Kong Link was
considering lobbying the Australian government to develop a “lifeboat” scheme
to facilitate migration from Hong Kong.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs said that “every
request for humanitarian assistance is considered on a case-by-case basis”.
The department declined to provide exact figures on
the number of protection claims filed by Hong Kong passport holders.
While the past six months of data is publicly
available, the number of claimants from Hong Kong is not consistently
disaggregated.
The department produced Hong Kong-specific numbers
of protection claims between March and December 2019, following a freedom of
information application.