From subsistence to resistance: Asylum-seekers and the other 'Occupy' in Hong Kong. (May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vecchio, Francesco; Ham, Julie
• Is Part Of: Critical social policy. Volume 38:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 221
• Publication Date: 2018-05
• Subjects: assistance -- asylum-seeker -- refugee -- social movement -- welfare; Welfare economics -- Periodicals; Socialism -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Social policy -- 1979- -- Periodicals; 361.94105
• DOI: 10.1177/0261018317699162
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-0183

Abstract

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.