Just like any other community, there are people with diverse SOGIESC living amongst the refugee and asylum-seeking community in Hong Kong. For many of these people, their sexuality and identity are one of the reasons for which they have been persecuted and for which they are seeking protection in Hong Kong.
Being LGBTQI and an asylum seeker or refugee in Hong Kong can be incredibly difficult and extremely isolating. For many LGBTQI refugees and asylum seekers, there are few support networks they can turn to in the refugee community in Hong Kong and they often don’t know about support networks in the wider LGBTQI community. They are, in effect, doubly stigmatised.
That is why Justice Centre and Planet Ally have teamed up for a new pilot project called Rainbow Allies, a groundbreaking LGBTIQ+ sports and team-building initiative.
The aim of the project is to help strengthen the resilience of asylum seekers and refugees who identify as LGBTQI+ and to build more connections with the broader LGBTQI community in Hong Kong through group activities.
We are offering a unique opportunity to take part in a programme where you can use your voice, your ideas and your skills to make Hong Kong a better place for all LGBTQI people in Hong Kong. Justice Centre Hong Kong and Planet Ally are running an 8-week programme where you will:
- learn about LGBTQI issues
- learn about LGBTQI asylum seekers
- positively interact with the local community in Hong Kong
- get to know other people and build a bigger support network
- work on creative ways to change public perceptions
- develop leadership skills to be a community spokesperson
We are currently recruiting participants for the project to start the week of October 14th and continue into early January TBD. We want to reach out to as many asylum-seeker, refugee groups, NGOs and intersectional networks in Hong Kong, to help us connect to potential participants.
Please see the attached form and send to bess@planetally.org or Whatsapp: +852 649 11014
More About Justice Centre Hong Kong
Justice Centre Hong Kong is a human rights NGO working fearlessly for Hong Kong’s most vulnerable forced migrants – refugees, other people seeking protection and survivors of torture, human trafficking and forced labour.
We provide free and independent information and assistance to people seeking protection in Hong Kong. We also advocate with and for forced migrants, bringing their voices into the public debate.
Photo credit: IOC Media