Friday, April 15, 2016

Kelley Loper on the HK Government's Reaction to Asylum Seekers (Backchat)

Backchat, RTHK Radio 3
13 April 2016
On Backchat, we will talk about government's reactions to asylum seekers and refugees. The government yesterday put forward proposals to increase the punishments for snakeheads and others who smuggle migrants into Hong Kong from those countries such as India and Vietnam which are the main source of asylum seekers. But these proposals, and description of asylum seekers as “fake refugees” by some pro-establishment parties, have alarmed local human rights groups who say it is “fueling a climate of fear and hostility” that will affect not only the asylum seekers but also members of local ethnic minority groups, and risks undermining human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong. So who is right? Does Hong Kong have a refugee problem? Or are we overreacting to a flow of migrants which is still modest by international standards? Guest panelists: Priscilla Leung, Legislator, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, Fernando Cheung, Legislator, Labour Party, Kelley Loper, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Law Yuk-kai, Director, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, Mark Daly, International Human Rights Lawyer. Click here to listen to the programme.

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