{"id":14999,"date":"2017-06-21T19:56:29","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T11:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=14999"},"modified":"2017-06-22T21:41:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T13:41:54","slug":"snowden-refugees-cases-rejected-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heroes who sheltered the American whistle-blower have become victims of Hong Kong\u2019s racist asylum regime<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dikang, Socialist Action (CWI in Hong Kong)<\/p>\n

A group of seven Hong Kong refugees, known worldwide due to their connection to US whistle-blower Edward Snowden<\/a>, have had their applications for asylum rejected by the Immigration Department. Lawyers for the four adults and three children have lodged an appeal against the decision and publicly slammed the Immigration Department\u2019s actions as \u201ccompletely unreasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The refugees are local heroes having sheltered Snowden, the former NSA contractor, in Hong Kong during the summer of 2013 after his revelations made him the \u201cworld\u2019s most wanted man\u201d. They are three Sri Lankans, Supun Kellapatha, Nadeeka Nonis and Ajith Pushpakumara, and Filipina Vanessa Rodel. Kellapatha and Nonis\u2019s two children and Rodel\u2019s daughter, all born in Hong Kong, are \u2018stateless\u2019 under the government\u2019s inhumane asylum rules.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Symbol for refugees<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vanessa Rodel is well known in Hong Kong\u2019s refugee community as a fighter for refugee rights, active in numerous campaigns organised by Socialist Action and the Refugee Union<\/a>. The case has become an important symbol of the struggles of the city\u2019s 11,000 refugees and an antidote to the sustained smear campaign<\/a> by the racist political establishment and media which portray refugees as \u2018fake refugees\u2019 and \u2018criminals\u2019.<\/p>\n

Socialist Action, which co-organised the first ever protest in support of Snowden in 2013<\/a>, has initiated demonstrations and other protests in support of the seven and highlighted the government\u2019s cruel treatment of refugees as a whole. Hong Kong does not grant asylum and is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention. Refugees are only screened for torture and persecution claims and made to wait years or even decades in which time they are kept in poverty and forbidden by law to work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cZero acceptance rate\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t understand why the Immigration Department need to process these cases so quickly \u2013 the decision time is very close after their connection to Snowden broke out,\u201d said lawyer Jonathan Man who represents the refugees.<\/p>\n

Robert Tibbo, another lawyer for the group who is also Snowden\u2019s lawyer in Hong Kong, said the decisions \u201cwere consistent with the zero acceptance rate in Hong Kong. Other cases of strong merit have been rejected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the seven believe the Immigration Department\u2019s ruling is connected to the intense media publicity about their role in protecting Snowden \u2013 there is no other connection between the four adults and yet their cases have been processed at the same time. A campaign group has also been set up in Canada to pressurise its government to offer them asylum, but so far the Canadian authorities have not responded.<\/p>\n

Their case was featured in Oliver Stone\u2019s movie Snowden<\/a>, and Edward Snowden has spoken up forcibly on their behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are good people who were driven from their homes by torture, rape, abuse, blackmail and war \u2013 these are documented, these aren\u2019t allegations. These are facts,\u201d Snowden said in a recently published video broadcast.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Edward Snowden thanks Hong Kong refugees for their courage\u00a0<\/a>\u27b5\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n
\"\"
Socialist Action protest at Hong Kong\u2019s US Consulate, September 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heroes who sheltered the American whistle-blower have become victims of Hong Kong\u2019s racist asylum regime<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[133,148,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hong-kong","8":"category-international","9":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nSnowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heroes who sheltered the American whistle-blower have become victims of Hong Kong\u2019s racist asylum regime\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"313\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":538,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Hong Kong\",\"International\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/\",\"name\":\"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg\",\"width\":550,\"height\":313},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/06\\\/21\\\/14999\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker","og_description":"Heroes who sheltered the American whistle-blower have become victims of Hong Kong\u2019s racist asylum regime","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":313,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong","datePublished":"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/"},"wordCount":538,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg","articleSection":["Hong Kong","International","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/","name":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-21T11:56:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-22T13:41:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/06\/snowden-e1497636391636.jpg","width":550,"height":313},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/21\/14999\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Snowden refugees face new setback in Hong Kong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}