Appeals/petitions of victims of human trafficking
Dear Security Bureau,
We would like to have the same figures for appeals/petitions filed with the Torture Claims Appeal Board (TCAB), ie the number of appeals/petitions made completely or partially on the basis that the claimants are or have been victims of human trafficking or will face risks of being trafficked if sent to another country, disaggregated by year; in how many of these appeals/petitions were experiences or risks of being trafficked raised in relation to each of the applicable grounds for non-refoulement, i.e. (1) torture defined under section 37U of the Immigration Ordinance, Cap. 115, (2) absolute and non-derogable rights under the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, Cap. 383, and (3) persecution risk with reference to the Refugee Convention; and how many of these appeals/petitions have been determined and substantiated respectively by the TCAB.
Yours faithfully,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong
Dear Ms Li,
I refer to your application for access to information dated 19.5.2017.
We are processing your application and shall let you have a substantive
reply as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Theresa Lee
for Secretary for Security
Dear Ms Li,
I refer to your email dated 19 May 2017 requesting us to provide
information in relation to appeals/petitions filed with Torture Claims
Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (“the Board”) on the
basis that the claimants are or have been victims of human trafficking or
will face risks of being trafficked if sent to another country.
Under the Unified Screening Mechanism, the appellant/petitioner is
required to include all information in the Notice of Appeal/Petition for
consideration by the Board. Where a claimant is unsuccessful in obtaining
non-refoulement protection after the first-tier screening by the
Immigration Department and files an appeal/petition, he will be deemed to
be appealing/petitioning against the first-tier decision on all applicable
grounds. The Board will review all grounds and determine whether the
appellant/petitioner shall be granted non-refoulement protection under any
of these applicable grounds. Since the Board does not maintain statistics
with a breakdown by basis of claims or applicable grounds, we cannot
provide relevant figures as requested.
Yours sincerely,
Theresa Lee
for Secretary for Security
