Asylum seeking in Hong Kong as a rite of passage

This article, based on interactions and interviews within a class of mostly African asylum seekers in Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions over the past 17 years, examines their asylum-seeking as an extended rite of passage, one that eventually led their lives in a more fulfilling direction than asyl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian anthropology 2023-07, Vol.22 (3), p.196-212
Main Author: Mathews, Gordon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Former asylum-seekers
Hong Kong
marriage
Political asylum
refugee status
Refugees
Rites of passage
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article, based on interactions and interviews within a class of mostly African asylum seekers in Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions over the past 17 years, examines their asylum-seeking as an extended rite of passage, one that eventually led their lives in a more fulfilling direction than asylum-seeking as generally portrayed in the academic literature. Some of these former asylum seekers in Hong Kong have returned to their home countries; some have attained refugee status and now live in the United States or Canada; some have found alternative paths to leave asylum-seeker status, and now live in Southeast Asia; and some have gotten married to Hongkongers and have become permanent Hong Kong residents. Most of the former asylum seekers I interviewed said that, although being an asylum seeker was a long and frustrating process, it was in the end worthwhile for them. What they have experienced as asylum seekers was a long voyage lasting many years into the prime of their lives but that eventually reached a destination better than where they had left.
ISSN:1683-478X
2168-4227
DOI:10.1080/1683478X.2023.2222991