Press Release
2009.8.2
NGO Delegation goes to Geneva for UN Hearing on Racial Discrimination
The United Nations (UN) will hold a hearing on Hong Kong’s implementation of the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
on 7th and 10 August 2009. 17 Delegates from 12 groups and 2 political parties will go to
Geneva to observe the hearing and lobby members of the Committee to urge the HKSAR
Government to ensure racial equality and implement its international obligations.
The Committee has played a pivotal role in persuading the HKSAR Government to enact
the Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO). NGO delegates believe the Committee will be
concerned about situation in the HKSAR and submitted a joint report to the ICERD
Committee in July. They will hold a meeting with members of the Committee before the
formal hearing.
The Committee wrote to the HKSAR Government by way of its early warning procedures in
2007 and 2008 and expressed their concerns over defects in the Race Discrimination Bill.
The NGO delegation will lobby Committee members to continue to ask for amendment of
the ordinance to ensure it complies with the ICERD. The HKSAR Government should also
substantially improve its weak and inadequate Administrative Guidelines and draw up a
Race Equality Plan, in which all governmental and public authorities are required to commit
resources according to a statutory mechanism to periodically review, examine, monitor, and
improve their policies and practice, to eradicate racial discrimination and to promote racial
harmony and equality.
The submission of the NGO delegation also covers many other issues:
1.
The delegation is concerned about the exclusion of discrimination against migrants
from mainland China based on length of stay and immigration status from the scope of
protection from racial discrimination.
It is also concerned about discriminatory
policies on housing and welfare entitlement and the hefty charges for public obstetric
services imposed on Mainland spouses of HKSAR residents. They urged the
Committee to call on the HKSAR Government to review the ordinance and policy and
provide mainland new migrants with effective legal and social protection and
immediately set up a unit to handle complaints of discrimination against new migrants.
2.
The delegation is concerned about the lack of procedural fairness in determining
refugee status and torture claims. They requested the Committee to urge the HKSARG
to formulate a coherent and comprehensive asylum policy, and set up a fair screening
procedure to assess both refugee and torture claims.
3.
The delegation expressed their concerns over language barriers facing ethnic
minorities on education, employment and access to public services. These include the
lack of appropriate Chinese curriculum and assessment tools tailor-made for
non-Chinese speaking students, the higher fees ethnic minority students have to pay
for Chinese examinations, the refusal of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to
work on a Code of Practice on Education under the RDO, the piece-meal interpretation
services which are inadequate for ensuring equal access to public services and the
lack of objective criteria for the provision of these services. The NGO delegation also
raised the case of the fatal shooting of a Nepalese man by a police officer which
occurred in March 2009.
This case demonstrated the existence of racially
discriminatory policies and a lack of cultural sensitivity and understanding of the value
of racial equality among the police.
4.
With respect to the rights of foreign domestic workers, the delegation expressed
concerns about, and has called for the permanent abolition of the employment
retraining levy and the repeal of the “two-week rule”. Some NGOs also asked to
include Foreign Domestic Workers in the proposed statutory minimum wage bill,
although the Democratic Party and Civic Party are still formulating their party platforms
on this issue.
5.
The delegation also expressed concern over the lack of independence of the EOC.
They suggested that the government should establish a panel with representatives
from different groups to select the chair and commissioners of the EOC.
Schedule in Geneva
Date
Schedule
2nd August (Sun.) Departure from Hong Kong
3rd August (Mon.) Most delegates will arrive in Geneva
6th August (Thur.) Delegates will meet informally with Committee members in the
afternoon (Geneva time)
7th August (Fri.)
Hearing will be held in the afternoon (and will end at Geneva time 18:00)
Delegates will observe the hearing and provide information to
Committee members when necessary
10th August
Hearing will be held in the morning (and will end at Geneva time 12:00)
(Mon.)
11th August (Tue.) Emily Lau and others will arrive in HK
??August
The Committee will publish its concluding observations