As Hong Kong is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the region does not grant asylum to refugees seeking permanent residence in the city. Instead, it offers non-refoulement, ensuring that individuals are not forced to return to a country where they face danger. According to the Immigration Department of Hong Kong, approximately 15,000 foreigners worldwide are applying for non-refoulement in the special administrative region.

Nam explains that refugees escape to Hong Kong for several reasons. The city is home to one of the UN Refugee Agency’s bases and has a relatively relaxed visa scheme, allowing nationals from 170 countries and territories to visit without an entry permit. Sometimes, individuals intending to seek asylum in countries like Australia and New Zealand transit through Hong Kong but get stuck in the city because they fail to board their connecting flights.

The wait for non-refoulment applications from refugees is lengthy and uncertain. According to Justice Centre Hong Kong, an application could take over 15 years to finalise. Official data shows that only 336 out of 29,753 determined cases were substantiated from late 2009 to June 2024.

The non-profit group also highlights that refugees without government-funded legal representation may have difficulty navigating the system, especially if they are unfamiliar with the languages used. This journey can also lead to post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues for those who have already undergone a harrowing experience fleeing their homes due to oppression.

Read more: How a Malaysian food startup is helping refugees rebuild their lives

Individuals making non-refoulement claims in Hong Kong are not legally permitted to work. Instead, the government offers them a monthly support package valued at around HK$3,300 (US$423). This includes a HK$1,200 (US$154) e-voucher for purchasing food, a monthly rental allowance of HK$1,500 (US$192) paid directly to the landlord, and subsidies for transportation and bills for essentials such as gas and electricity.

Some claimants, either facing deportation or awaiting a final decision on their applications, may be detained by the government without a court order, a practice known as immigration detention.

“One of the main issues the refugees face is how long it takes to get an answer. There are significant delays in the global processes for refugees to reestablish themselves. If you win your case, you are allowed to stay for as long as it takes for you to find a solution to move elsewhere. This means people tend to remain here for a very long time, but they don’t necessarily have access to the opportunities around them. They typically live on government handouts because they are unable to work,” Nam explains.

Read more: Billionaires Yuri and Julia Milner launch global initiative “Tech For Refugees”

The Justice Centre Hong Kong provides comprehensive support to people seeking protection, including legal services, welfare assistance and psychological support. From July 2023 to June 2024, over 350 individuals received personalised legal assistance and benefited from welfare and psychological interventions.

The organisation also works toward establishing a support system for refugees in the city, from researching and providing recommendations for the asylum system to providing support training for medical and legal professionals and facilitating Humanity Seekers, a community for people who have been or are being displaced. 

“When it comes to refugees or asylum seekers, unfortunately, it is an issue that some people don’t see eye to eye on, often because they are considered foreign and not from the city. But that’s a narrative we’re trying to change. For us, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, it doesn’t matter what the colour of your skin is, it doesn’t matter what passport you hold. A person in need of help is a person,” shares Nam.

Read more: Nadia Ismadi: “It makes economic sense to build an inclusive workforce”

A 2019 study conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission found that nearly 90 percent of the 83 refugee participants reported experiencing discrimination in their daily lives and when accessing public services in the city. The report identified skin colour and residency status as the main reasons for the differential treatment and also concluded that the lack of knowledge and understanding fuels negative stereotyping.

One of the campaigns organised by the non-profit centre to educate the wider public is “The $40 Challenge”. It aims to simulate the experience of surviving on a budget similar to what a refugee might have for daily food needs. “It shows what it might be like to live in a city—a ‘city of plenty’ as we call it—where there’s so much opulence, but to be so limited by your circumstances,” she explains.

Read more: Malaysian musician Yuna on overcoming prejudice and stereotypes to make an impact

Nam initially considered becoming a journalist instead of a lawyer because she believed that telling people’s stories was impactful and vital to society. However, after excelling academically in high school, her parents encouraged her to choose between the two fields of medicine and law. She chose the latter, a discipline related to the humanities. During her studies, she took a year off to reflect on whether to continue her legal education. 

“When you first take up a law degree, they teach you topics like commercial law and property law, areas that are somewhat removed from the everyday people. But when I began studying refugee law, I realised that the law can both create injustice as well as create the conditions to remedy it. I looked at it and thought, ‘Look, this is such a powerful tool.’ You can use it to exclude and marginalise, or you can use it to ensure that the people who need it the most get a fair chance. That realisation was extremely motivating to me,” she recalls.

Read more: The lawyer who’s making a difference among Singapore’s most vulnerable

One formative experience in Nam’s earlier years was volunteering with a non-profit organisation at the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Over six months, she taught young refugees from the Karenni ethnic group who had been displaced for many years. The programme covered various subjects, such as environmental protection and leadership, to help them positively contribute to the community.

“It was such an inspiring experience for me—seeing young people who came from such deprivation, who had very limited pathways ahead of them, but they made every opportunity count,” Nam says, adding that many of them have since become movers and shakers in their society. This chapter of her life made her realise there was still much work to be done in this space, and she believed she could make a difference if she dedicated herself to it.

Read more: Volunteer doctor Debryna Dewi lumanauw is bridging Indonesia’s urban-rural healthcare gap

Nam has now worked at Justice Centre Hong Kong for nearly nine years, starting as a legal officer and advancing to senior legal advisor and executive director. During her tenure, she has overseen and managed a high volume of cases, including those with uncertain outcomes, such as the case involving two teenagers from Afghanistan.

“That case felt like a loss for me, and it has affected my views on how we approach our services, how we manage expectations and how we need to ensure everything we do is based on the most effective options,” she says. 

Despite Nam experiencing disappointment, frustration and anger in these cases, she channels these feelings into efforts to offer better help. One of her recent projects is a three-year plan to create platforms that allow people who have experienced displacement to take the lead in developing and implementing solutions. This aligns with her view of humanitarianism, which encompasses everything that guarantees humans can live with dignity, including the ability to make their own decisions and participate in society.

Read more: Humanitarian doctor Tam Wai Jia on denying her naysayers and the power of dreams

While many people focus on international humanitarian crises, Nam reminds us not to overlook those happening closer to home. “At the end of the day, we’re all here for a brief time. The best thing we can do is to make this place better as we go along and ensure that as a human race, we thrive together,” she says.

One of the poems that sticks with Nam, an avid reader, is Home by Somali-British poet Warsan Shire. The first stanza reads, “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark; You only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well; Your neighbours running faster than you breath bloody in their throats; The boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body; You only leave home when home won’t let you stay.”

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