{"id":6340,"date":"2014-03-18T15:16:27","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T20:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=6340"},"modified":"2014-03-15T23:03:22","modified_gmt":"2014-03-15T15:03:22","slug":"support-hong-kong-refugees-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/","title":{"rendered":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fight against corruption at welfare contractor ISS leads to the \u2018pinnacle of power\u2019 in Hong Kong\u2019s government<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

\u201cWho took our money? ISS! Who sponsors corruption? CY\u2019s wife!\u201d This was one of the chants as over 60 refugees marched to Government House on Thursday 13 March in the latest protest in their continuing battle against corrupt welfare contractor International Social Services Hong Kong (ISS-HK). The protest was organised by the Refugee Union, supported by members of Socialist Action (CWI in Hong Kong) and \u2018Longhair\u2019 Leung Kwok-hung, chairman of the League of Social Democrats (LSD).\u00a0It drew attention to the fact that Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, wife of Hong Kong\u2019s unelected ruler CY Leung, is a patron of ISS-HK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ISS scandal goes to the very pinnacle of power in Hong Kong \u2013 the ruling family!\u201d said Sally Tang Mei-ching of Socialist Action.<\/p>\n

The position of the Chief Executive\u2019s spouse is inconsistent with the notion of a fair and rigorous investigation of corruption at ISS. Despite its \u2018NGO\u2019 label, ISS in fact profits from a lucrative contract (HK$280m for the current year) with the Hong Kong government in order to operate a minimal welfare cushion for the city\u2019s refugees \u2013 with support measures that fall 25 percent short of the city\u2019s poverty line. ISS is now also the subject of a corruption investigation by Hong Kong\u2019s \u2018graft-busting\u2019 Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), following a filing by three members of the Refugee Union.<\/p>\n

ICAC is accountable to the Chief Executive, a situation that immediately presents a potential conflict of interests as long as the Chief Executive\u2019s wife continues her association with ISS. The protest at Government House demanded Mrs Leung resign as patron of ISS, and criticised her for rejecting a written request to meet with refugees and hear their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is shameful for Mrs CY Leung to deny your request and refuse to meet you,\u201d said \u2018Longhair\u2019 addressing the demonstrators. \u201cIf she thinks that she is on the right side, she should come out and speak up. If she says that she doesn\u2019t know, then she should listen to you. If she thinks that there may be something wrong with ISS, then she should resign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sally Tang Mei-ching posed the question, \u201cHow can an investigation [into ISS] be fair or impartial when the Chief Executive\u2019s wife has an official relationship with ISS?\u201d<\/p>\n

The refugees\u2019 struggle in Hong Kong has already notched up some important achievements, in exerting greater pressure on the authorities and raising public awareness about the inhuman treatment of refugees by one of the richest governments in the world \u2013 CY\u2019s administration sits on cash reserves worth 21 months of total government expenditure. Hong Kong\u2019s asylum system is \u201cdraconian\u201d noted Tania Branigan in a recent report for the Guardian (UK), with refugees treated worse than prisoners!<\/p>\n

\"Adella<\/a>
Adella of Refugee Union addresses demonstration at Government House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winning support<\/strong><\/p>\n

The refugees\u2019 campaign, which burst into the news one month ago with the simultaneous occupation of three ISS offices, has since moved to establish a permanent protest camp in the Wan Chai district, outside the Social Welfare Department. The Refugee Union has begun to organise itself and take on the task of winning over public opinion. For this, banners, placards, and speeches recorded in Chinese as well as English, have been necessary to spread the message to the majority community (97 percent of Hong Kong people speak Cantonese Chinese).<\/p>\n

This is beginning to yield results with well-wishers visiting the camp and offering support. The aim is to challenge the systemic stigmatisation of refugees by the government (portrayed in its propaganda as \u2018ungrateful\u2019, \u2018fake asylum seekers\u2019 and \u2018a burden on taxpayers\u2019). The next stage of the refugees\u2019 campaign must escalate this activity \u2013 to reach out to broad layers of discontented Hong Kong youth, workers and others who suffer under the government\u2019s anti-democratic pro-business policies, to win them to the idea of united struggle against a common enemy. As a first step, the Refugee Union and its supporters will not let \u2018Mrs CY\u2019 off the hook. The campaign to smoke her out over her association with a shadowy and arrogant contractor has just started.<\/p>\n

Anti-government struggle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greater pressure is needed especially for \u2018radical\u2019 and left-leaning political groups to end their silence and take a clear stand in sympathy with the refugees\u2019 struggle. So far the honourable exceptions are Leung Kwok-hung in a personal capacity, alongside the members of Socialist Action, while unfortunately most anti-government political parties and groups \u2013 with far bigger resources \u2013 have yet to speak out. Some undoubtedly are afraid to give public support to the refugees\u2019 demands believing \u2013 wrongly \u2013 that this will lose them support among their own voters.<\/p>\n

Even if this were true, vital principles are involved in this struggle such as democratic rights (the right of asylum, public accountability), corruption and government-business collusion (ISS is a poster child for the evils of outsourcing) the fight against discrimination and the right to work. But in reality, as the refugees\u2019 campaign is beginning to show, the government\u2019s anti-refugee propaganda has no deeper support in society than its fake electoral reforms or its recent neo-liberal budget and other economic policies.<\/p>\n

The Refugee Union has in just over one month assembled a formidable campaigning machine, which has begun to break the political isolation of refugees. There is still much to be done \u2013 new protests and more material to build active support. But if the political establishment thinks the refugee protests of recent weeks are a flash in the pan they are sorely mistaken. Refugee activism is now part of Hong Kong\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n

\"relationship\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fight against corruption at welfare contractor ISS leads to the \u2018pinnacle of power\u2019 in Hong Kong\u2019s government Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info \u201cWho took our money? ISS! Who sponsors corruption? CY\u2019s wife!\u201d This was one of the chants as over 60 refugees marched to Government House on Thursday 13 March in the latest protest in their continuing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6341,"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":[133,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hong-kong","8":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nSupport Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - 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\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fight against corruption at welfare contractor ISS leads to the \u2018pinnacle of power\u2019 in Hong Kong\u2019s government Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info \u201cWho took our money? ISS! Who sponsors corruption? CY\u2019s wife!\u201d This was one of the chants as over 60 refugees marched to Government House on Thursday 13 March in the latest protest in their continuing […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/\" \/>\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=\"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"574\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":953,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/Lama.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Hong Kong\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/\",\"name\":\"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/Lama.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/Lama.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/Lama.jpg\",\"width\":574,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/18\\\/6340\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle\"}]},{\"@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":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - 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\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - China Worker","og_description":"Fight against corruption at welfare contractor ISS leads to the \u2018pinnacle of power\u2019 in Hong Kong\u2019s government Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info \u201cWho took our money? ISS! Who sponsors corruption? CY\u2019s wife!\u201d This was one of the chants as over 60 refugees marched to Government House on Thursday 13 March in the latest protest in their continuing […]","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":574,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle","datePublished":"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/"},"wordCount":953,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg","articleSection":["Hong Kong","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/","name":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-14T20:51:05+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-15T15:03:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2014\/03\/Lama.jpg","width":574,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2014\/03\/18\/6340\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Support Hong Kong refugees\u2019 struggle"}]},{"@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\/6340","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=6340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}