HK Students Appeal to Taiwan Government for Help|反送中港生被控暴動罪 來台籲供政治庇護

Hong Kong student groups traveled to Taiwan and held a press conference with legislators to express their anger over students taking part in the anti-extradition bill protests being charged with rioting. They urged Taiwan to quickly pass a refugee law draft bill and to establish an official channel for political asylum.


Following the Hong Kong Polytechnic University anti-extradition bill protest, 300 secondary students under the age of 18 who took part in the protest had to register with the police, who reserved the right to prosecute. Those found guilty of rioting can face 10-year prison sentences. Recently, Hong Kong student groups traveled to Taiwan and held a press conference with legislators to urge the government to establish a channel for political asylum.

Young people under the age of 18 who study in Taiwan need to have a guardian in Taiwan who serves as the head of the household. We hope the Taiwan government will give us special treatment.

The students said people seeking asylum in Taiwan can only stay for six months. Although some of the secondary students have applied to study at Taiwan universities, the next academic year is 10 months away, which is longer than six months. Taiwan has already passed the first reading of a refugee draft bill, but the second and third readings are pending. Article 18 of the Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong and Macau Affairs says "necessary assistance shall be provided to Hong Kong or Macau residents whose safety and liberty are immediately threatened for political reasons," but there are no concrete details on what conditions need to be met or how this assistance is rendered. Therefore, students seeking asylum feel helpless.

I hope they can give us a safe haven as quickly as possible, and institutionalize their refugee law.

Why is the government now ignoring this issue after it reaped the political benefits and got what it wanted? The information we have shows that with regards to overstaying residencies, the first wave of asylum seekers have not yet finished their applications and the second round of interviews is still being arranged.

New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming says the Mainland Affairs Council, National Immigration Agency, and Ministry of Education were invited to participate in the press conference, but no one attended in the end. He said the government should pass the law as quickly as possible to offer real assistance, in addition to verbally supporting Hong Kong.



香港反送中運動，在理工大學抗爭的未成年中學生，達300名被警方登記身分、保留追訴權。擔心如果被控「暴動罪」成立，可處監禁10年，香港中學生和大學生代表組團來台，呼籲台灣政府提供具體的政治庇護管道。

學生動源召集人/中學生代表 鍾翰林表示：「因為在台灣讀書，18歲以下的年輕人，是需要在台灣有一個監護人，來做他的家長，我們希望台灣政府，有一個特別的處理。」

香港學生指出，目前來台尋求庇護者，只能有半年的短期停留時間，雖然部分中學生已經可以申請台灣的大學，但距離明年九月開學，還有10個月，將超過半年期限，雖然目前台灣的難民法修正草案，已經通過初審，但還沒完成二、三讀，而港澳關係條例第18條，有提供救援的法律依據，可是也沒有審查條件等具體項目和協助內容，因此對於想尋求庇護的學生，仍感到求助無門。

香港嶺南大學會長 陳穎茵表示：「希望儘快給一個避風港，讓難民法能夠正式地納入法律之中。」

時代力量立委 徐永明表示：「不能撿到槍，開完槍以後，政治紅利收割了，那槍就丟掉嗎？事情就不理了嗎？取得資料是這樣，逾期居留這一塊，第一批尋求庇護者，到目前都還沒完成申請，仍在安排第二次的面談。」

時代力量立委徐永明表示，記者會原本有邀請陸委會、移民署、教育部列席，不過最後仍沒有出席，呼籲政府除了口頭聲援香港，也應盡速通過難民法、落實具體救援。