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A Hong Kong Legislator, Hoey Simon Lee said on Thursday (9th of November, 2023) that the government should restrict the movement of non-refoulement claimants around the city. The lawmaker said the claimants should be constrained in the camps, or conveyed to somewhere outside the city while the assessments on their status are ongoing.
Legislator Lee said the city has had a sudden increase in refugees seeking to stay in Hong Kong in recent years. He explained that most of the seekers do not come from active war zones or disaster-stricken areas but from countries with struggling economies like Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan.
He emphasised that some are suspected of abusing legal procedures to extend their stay in the SAR and work illegally after their cases are denied.
The non-refoulement applicants should be situated in the semi-open camp whereby they could be allowed to visit outside under particular conditions, he said.
He said, "This would be better than the current situation, where they're scattered around Hong Kong."
"It's difficult to stop them from working illegally, it's also difficult to prevent them from getting in touch with syndicates. Even if we have NGOs in Hong Kong that could help them, there isn't any access point", he said further.
Moreover, the legislator suggested that the government should bargain on other places so non-refoulement claimants can be removed from the city while awaiting their applications.
In the Hong Kong law, asylum seekers are not permitted but the city offers non-refoulement. This means that the refugee seekers will not be returned to a country where there are risks of torture or persecution.
In the wake of settling the problem of abusing the refugee-seeking status, the government introduced new rules in December 2022 that allow the authorities to remove unsuccessful claimants from Hong Kong even if they are waiting to challenge the result of their applications in court.
Chief Executive John Lee set a target of removing at least 1,200 claimants who do not have supported or proven evidence each year.
香港立法會議員：難民應被安置在難民營或被驅逐出香港
香港立法會議員李浩賢週四（2023年11月9日）表示，政府應限制免遣返聲請人在全市範圍內的行動。立法會議員表示，應將聲請人限制在難民營內，或轉移到其他地方在對他們的狀況進行評估的同時，他們仍在城外。
李議員表示，近年來尋求留在香港的難民突然增加。 他解釋說，大多數尋求者並非來自活躍的戰區或災區，而是來自越南、印尼和巴基斯坦等經濟困難的國家。
他強調，有些人涉嫌濫用法律程序延長在特區居留時間，並在案件被駁回後非法工作。
他說，不驅回申請人應位於半開放營地，以便在特定條件下允許他們到外面參觀。
他說： “這比目前他們分散在香港各地的情況要好。”
「很難阻止他們非法工作，也很難阻止他們與犯罪集團聯繫。即使我們在香港有非政府組織可以幫助他們，但也沒有任何接入點，」他進一步說道。
此外，立法者建議政府應在其他地方進行討價還價，以便免驅回申請人在等待申請時可以被驅逐出城市。
香港法律不允許尋求庇護者，但香港提供不驅回政策。這意味著尋求難民的人不會被遣返回有遭受酷刑或迫害風險的國家。
在解決濫用難民尋求身分的問題後，政府於 2022 年 12 月出台了新規則，允許當局將未成功的難民申請驅逐出香港，即使他們正在等待在法庭上質疑其申請結果。
執行長李約翰 (John Lee) 設定了每年驅逐至少 1,200 名沒有支持或證明證據的索賠人的目標。
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