2017/03/09 by Francesco Vecchio, Julie Ham
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Homelessness and Social Issues #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Refugees, and Integration
paper · doi:10.1177/0261018317699162
openalex publication_date 2017/03/09 · openalex created_date 2017/03/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
In 2014, the Refugee Union – the only asylum-seeker-led organisation in Hong Kong – organised an eight-month-long protest against assistance policies and practices which they argued dehumanised and jeopardised their dignity and survival. Central to this public protest, termed ‘Refugee Occupy’, was the transformation of a traditional mechanism for asylum-seeker containment – the refugee camp – into a vehicle for asylum-seeker voice, participation and resistance. In this article, we discuss the asylum-seeker assistance policies and practices over the last decade that have resulted in a borderless refugee camp in Hong Kong. We explore the asylum-seekers’ use of the camp concept and its spatial and political transformation into an instrument for asylum-seeker resistance and political engagement. We conclude by situating the Refugee Union’s formation alongside other migrant-led social movements in Hong Kong and globally.