|
Refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong are a small part of the city's population. Historically waves of refugees have been accepted in the aftermath of war and crisis in the region. As of August 2015, there are about 9,900 asylum seekers, mostly from South Asia, awaiting adjudication of their asylum claims. However, almost none are ultimately sustained as bona fide claims. A public debate surrounds the asylum system with criticism voiced about the high cost of supporting the living expenses of the asylum seekers and instances of process abuse by asylum seekers without a bona fide claim to torture or persecution risk.〔 ==History== Turmoil in the region has been a cause of refugees waves to the city. The end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 resulted in hundreds of thousands of Chinese refugees and the end of the Vietnam War brought hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees. Ultimately, of the refugee claims, 143,700 Vietnamese refugees were resettled in third countries while about 67,000 Vietnamese migrants were deported back to Vietnam. Only about 1,000 Vietnamese refugees were granted permission to reside and assimilate in Hong Kong. A system of individual assessment of torture claims brought by asylum seekers began in 2004 after a Court of Final Appeal directed the Hong Kong government to consider all claims on an individual basis. After this decision, there was a dramatic increase in the arrival of asylum seekers. A March 2013 holding by the Court of Final Appeal held that determination of refugee claims are subject to judicial review. This landmark holding prompted Hong Kong to restructure the system for considering claims. The UNHCR used to make determinations of refugee status and handled resettlement of refugees from Hong Kong to third countries. Prompted by the court holding, Hong Kong commenced in 2014 a Unified Screening Mechanism. In the period from 2014-15, the number of asylum seeker claims has soared, rising by 70% from early 2014 to mid-2015 due to consolidation of claims for both persecution and torture under the Unified Screening Mechanism.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|