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Non-refoulement statistics FDHs

David Wilson made this Freedom of Information request to Immigration Department

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David Wilson
Delivered

Dear Immigration Department,

I would like to ask the following questions:

• For each year between the inception of the USM in March 2014 to current day, could you please provide a detailed breakdown of the nationalities of the former FDHs who have lodged non-refoulement claims? Please provide this number broken down by substantiated and unsubstantiated claims.
• What are the most common grounds cited by former FDHs in their non-refoulement claims? How do the grounds for claims vary by nationality, if at all?
• For the claims that were substantiated, what were the most common grounds for acceptance?
• What are the most common reasons for the refusal of non-refoulement claims by former FDHs?
• How many former FDHs have appealed their non-refoulement claim decisions, and how many of those where substantiated and how many of those have not yet been decided?
• What factors contributed to the significant increase in non-refoulement claims by former FDHs in 2021?

If the information cannot be found within the Immigration Department, could you please direct the question to the appropriate department?

Yours faithfully,

David Wilson

Link to this Report
Immigration Department

Our ref. : IL/00217837/24, L/M (135) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C

Dear David Wilson,

We refer to your application for access to information of 26 March 2024.

Your application is now under processing.  Our Department would revert to
you on or before 15 April 2024.

 

Best regards,

(CHAN Yan-ling Sara)
for Director of Immigration

To learn more about the services and activities of the Hong Kong
Immigration Department, you are welcome to visit the [1]'Hong Kong
Immigration Department' YouTube Channel.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

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References

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1. http://www.youtube.com/c/immdgovhkchannel/

Link to this Report
Immigration Department

Our ref. : IL/00245807/24

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Non-refoulement statistics FDHs

To: David Wilson <[FOI #1507 email]>

Our ref.: L/M (135) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C

 

Dear David Wilson,

 

We refer to your application for access to information of 26 March 2024.

 

We need more time to handle your application.  Our Department would revert
to you on or before 15 May 2024.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

(CHAN Yan-ling Sara)

for Director of Immigration

 

To learn more about the services and activities of the Hong Kong
Immigration Department, you are welcome to visit the [1]'Hong Kong
Immigration Department' YouTube Channel.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated
recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged for the
designated recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing,
forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly prohibited. If you
have received the message in error, please erase all copies of the message
(including attachments) from your system and notify us immediately.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.youtube.com/c/immdgovhkchannel/

Link to this Report
Immigration Department

Our ref. : IL/00247449/24, L/M (135) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C

Dear David Wilson,

We refer to your application for access to information of 26 March 2024.

We need more time to handle your application.  Our Department would revert
to you on or before 15 May 2024.

Best regards,

(CHAN Yan-ling Sara)
for Director of Immigration

To learn more about the services and activities of the Hong Kong
Immigration Department, you are welcome to visit the [1]'Hong Kong
Immigration Department' YouTube Channel.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated
recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged for the
designated recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing,
forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly prohibited. If you
have received the message in error, please erase all copies of the message
(including attachments) from your system and notify us immediately.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.youtube.com/c/immdgovhkchannel/

Link to this Report
Immigration Department

Our ref. : L/M (135) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C

 

Dear David Wilson,

 

We refer to your request for Access to Information of 26 March 2024 and
write further to our interim replies of 3 and 15 April 2024.  Having
consulted the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition
Office (TCAB/NRCPO), the requested information is provided below.

 

The Government implemented the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) in March
2014 to screen non-refoulement claims on all applicable grounds in one go.
 As at the end of February 2024, the number of non-refoulement claims
involving former foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) and the breakdown by
nationality are as follows:

 

┌─────────────┬───────────┬─────────┬────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│ Year │Indonesian │Filipino │Bangladeshi │Indian │Others │ Total │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2014 │ 522 │ 148 │ 38 │ 14 │ 27 │ 749 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│(Mar to Dec) │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2015 │ 296 │ 92 │ 68 │ 12 │ 14 │ 482 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2016 │ 259 │ 138 │ 64 │ 23 │ 36 │ 520 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2017 │ 220 │ 126 │ 67 │ 18 │ 10 │ 441 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2018 │ 137 │ 97 │ 69 │ 24 │ 26 │ 353 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2019 │ 88 │ 74 │ 26 │ 18 │ 17 │ 223 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2020 │ 115 │ 74 │ 20 │ 19 │ 6 │ 234 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2021 │ 658 │ 227 │ 52 │ 70 │ 34 │ 1 041 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2022 │ 518 │ 147 │ 16 │ 23 │ 23 │ 727 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2023 │ 541 │ 127 │ 18 │ 32 │ 18 │ 736 │
├─────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ 2024 │ 89 │ 21 │ 2 │ 5 │ 1 │ 118 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│(Jan to Feb) │ │ │ │ │ │ │
└─────────────┴───────────┴─────────┴────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

 

Under the USM, ImmD will assess non-refoulement claims on all applicable
grounds in one go, including risk of torture under Part VIIC of the
Immigration Ordinance, Cap. 115, risk of violation of absolute and
non-derogable rights under the Hong Kong Bills of Rights as set out under
Section 8 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, Cap. 383 (including
the right to life under Article 2 and right not to be subjected to torture
or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under Article 3),
and risk of persecution with reference to the non-refoulement principle
under Article 33 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees.  The non-refoulement claim should be rejected if all applicable
grounds are not substantiated. Since the implementation of the USM and
until the end of February 2024, there were 16 substantiated claims lodged
by former FDHs, among them 12 were Indonesians, 2 were Bangladeshis, 1 was
Filipino and 1 was Nepalese.

 

In relation to your request for information concerning appeals of
non-refoulement claims lodged by former FDHs and the connecting issues,
TCAB/NRCPO replied that they have not maintained statistics on the
personal background of appellants, such as whether they are former FDHs.

 

We hope you would find the above information useful.

 

Best Regards,

 

 

( HO Chun-pong )

for Director of Immigration

To learn more about the services and activities of the Hong Kong
Immigration Department, you are welcome to visit the [1]'Hong Kong
Immigration Department' YouTube Channel.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated
recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged for the
designated recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing,
forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly prohibited. If you
have received the message in error, please erase all copies of the message
(including attachments) from your system and notify us immediately.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

References

Visible links
1. http://www.youtube.com/c/immdgovhkchannel/

Link to this Report
We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are David Wilson please sign in and let everyone know.