Global Impact

Numerous refugee children have experienced trauma in their home countries, often due to events related to warfare, social violence, or abuse within their families. Additionally, many have encountered further life-threatening circumstances. Initial findings from a study conducted on Syrian children residing in a refugee camp revealed that 26% of those aged 6 years and younger and 33% of children aged 7 to 14 exhibited symptoms of PTSD. In a similar vein, research focusing on children aged 1 to 5 years, whose families had escaped conflict zones in Iraq and Syria, indicated that approximately one-third showed signs consistent with PTSD, with notably elevated scores in the areas of anxiety/depression, social withdrawal, and attention deficits when compared to clinical reference groups.

In Hong Kong, the government does not provide asylum that permits refugees to reside permanently. With this, refugees struggle to find work or money to raise families and result in living off help from others. According to our partners, Refugee Union, the Refugees are prohibited by law from working. Those caught are routinely sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. Furthermore, the government only provides them with $3200 HKD per month in assistance. That includes $1500 rent, $1200 food coupons, $300 utilities, and $200 transport. Bear in mind these amounts haven’t been adjusted with inflation since 2014.

Even with small assistance from the government, they cannot open bank accounts to accept donations as the Refugee Union is a refugee-led group and do not have ID cards.

(AS OF 18TH SEP 2024) NOT FINAL