An Impossible Choice: asylum seekers and the cost of living in HK

Post Date: Mar 6th, 2018 | Categories: Advocacy, Government, Legal | COMMENT

http://menafn.com/1096527433/Four-asylum-seekers-get-prison-sentences-for-working-illegally

From MENA FN -- Business and Financial News, based out of Jordan

One of the biggest issues acutely affecting asylum seekers in Hong Kong is the city’s stark economic inequality. Rent and food prices hit asylum seekers especially hard because of the inadequate housing and food vouchers received from International Social Service (ISS-HK) an NGO funded by the Hong Kong government. Asylum seekers receive only HK $1,200 per month in food vouchers (HK $40 a day for all 3 meals), and HK $1,500 per person for rent paid directly to the landlord. These amounts are impossibly low for any person trying to survive in Hong Kong. For asylum seekers, whose applications for refugee status in Hong Kong can take years, even over a decade, to process, many have no choice but to seek income when trying to adequately support themselves, or their families in Hong Kong.

Read more here: http://menafn.com/1096527433/Four-asylum-seekers-get-prison-sentences-for-working-illegally