Justice Centre Hong Kong
Formation2007 (2007)
TypeNGO
Legal statusActive
PurposeProtecting the rights of Hong Kong's most vulnerable forced migrants
Location
WebsiteOfficial website
Formerly called
Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre (HKRAC)

Launched in 2014, Justice Centre Hong Kong is an independent, non-profit human rights organisation that focuses on the protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong.[1] Hong Kong has long been a hub of migration and refuge due to wars in the region and Hong Kong’s historical role as a trading and transit entrepôt. There were estimated to be 14,000 refugees in the territory in 2017, and these refugees are in need of extensive legal assistance as the 0.8 substantiation rate is extremely low compared to rates of 25-62% per cent in other developed jurisdictions.[2] Before early 2014 the organisation was known as the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre (HKRAC),[3] which in 2007 had grown out of the Refugee Advice Unit from another local organisation working with refugees, Christian Action. And spun off by human rights lawyers Jennifer Stone and Raquel Amador, who were the first Directors.[4] In 2012 Aleta Miller became Executive Director,[5] helping HKRAC win the Clifford Chance Foundation Access to Justice Award in 2012,[6] and relaunching the organisation as Justice Centre Hong Kong in 2014. From 2015 the Executive Director was Piya Muqit, who was previously head of policy and advocacy at UNICEF UK.[7] In November 2020 Melanie McLaren was appointed Executive Director.[8]

The organisation works with civil society partners to champion the rights of persons seeking protection in Hong Kong through research and advocacy work. In addition, it provides legal and psychosocial assistance to asylum seekers,[9] as with the very low acceptance rate of legal aid applications in Hong Kong most asylum seekers are otherwise forced to represent themselves.[10]

They also carry out evidence based policy work to try to influence and improve government policies towards their clients. Their 'Coming Clean" report in 2016 found more than 80 percent of the territory's 336,600 domestic workers are exploited, with one in six a victim of forced labour.[11] Providing the first quantitative data on trafficking this gave Hong Kong a very low ranking on the Global Slavery Index,[12] and pushing Hong Kong onto the Tier 2 Watch List of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report.[13]

References

  1. ^ Anderson, J.; and Li, A. (2017): ‘Fake Refugees’ or ‘Victims of Trafficking’? Vulnerable Migrants in Hong Kong and the Boundaries between Refugee and Human Trafficking Experiences. International Seminar on Mixed Migration in Southeast and East Asia. http://un-act.org/publication/view/fake-refugees-victims-trafficking-vulnerable-migrants-hong-kong-boundaries-refugee-human-trafficking-experiences/
  2. ^ Li, Annie; Anderson, Jade (29 October 2018). "Refugees or Victims of Human Trafficking? The case of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong". Anti-Trafficking Review (11). doi:10.14197/atr.201218114. ISSN 2287-0113.
  3. ^ "Controversy over Hong Kong's asylum seekers harks back to Vietnam". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. ^ "2014 Annual Report" (PDF).
  5. ^ "My life: Aleta Miller". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Clifford Chance Graduates UK". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Daughter of Bangladeshi economic migrants offers a helping hand to refugees in Hong Kong". South China Morning Post. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Message from the Chair of Justice Centre Hong Kong - Executive Director Appointed". Justice Centre Hong Kong. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong Justice Centre helps traumatised asylum seekers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. ^ Ng, Ellie (15 May 2018). "Hong Kong grants legal aid to Rohingya refugee amid steep drop in aid awards for judicial review cases". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  11. ^ hermes (16 March 2016). "One in 6 HK foreign maids in forced labour". The Straits Times. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Finance, wealth and ... slavery? Hong Kong one of Asia's worst for forced labour". South China Morning Post. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Hong Kong avoids drop on US watch list for human trafficking". South China Morning Post. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2019.

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