A Place Unknown to Most People

Sometimes, it's the things in our heads are far worse than anything they could in books or on film. -- C.K. Webb

15 March 2022 | Author: Azra, K.

Many friends asked me, if being caught by HK police unfortunately when failing to meet entry requirement or overstaying, what's the place for us.

Don't judge a book by its cover

Photo 1: CIC - A building with contemporary design

The Castle Peak Immigration Center (CIC) in Tuen Mun, serves as a detention center intended for adult illegal immigrants, illegal workers, over-stayers, and people released from prisons who have made a non-refoulment claims or who await repatriation.

Simply put, if you are a asylum seek who fails to meet the entry requirement of Hong Kong, or you overstayed your visa, you would be detained here most probably.

This block looks pretty enough, as picture 1 shows, and the life there is unlikely to be hard.

Don't get your hopes up, K will tell you.

Seventh Floor

The following is the interview between I and my friend K.

"Hello, I'm K. I came to Hong Kong in December 2015. Probably I am the longest detainee at the CIC," says K.

"Hi, K, nice to meet you today! How did you come to Hong Kong?" I ask.

"Well, it's a little bit complicated. " K said, with some stops. "I ran to teach in Mainland China to evade my debt. After my visa was cancelled, I fled to Philippines and Togo, and then I came here"

"Would you mind telling me some your experience of the lives in the CIC?"

"Sure, I was detained on the seventh floors, more specifically, in Room 7C. I was called 'Little B' And..."

"What kind of people were detained on that floor?"

"Emmm, I would say, most of them have no relatives in Hong Kong, and they usually have difficulty communicating with outside. Technically, they most have not set foot in Hong Kong, for they were usually sent to CIC after they reported themselves at the airport. "

"How many people are there on 7th floor?"

"80-100 at the peak. "

"How did the staff there treat you?"

"I believe I was seen as a 'trouble maker', because I sometimes could unite the detainees. Some staff, I remember, usually remarked on me as 'retarded' and 'rubbish'"

"It seems they kind of targeted at you. Any other things happening to you?"

"I was once attacked by another person on the same floor, while I ended up being sent to solitary confinement. Confined In the tiny space, I suffered from such adverse reaction that I had to call for help and almost lost consciousness. On another day, staff from the Immigration Department attempted to confiscate a CD with records of interviews between me, the lawyer, and an immigration officer, on the ground of it being a “dangerous weapon.” I resisted and pointed out that the staff had no right to confiscate the CD, which is a personal item and evidence. I ended up being beaten with a stick and was sent to solitary confinement for seven days after being sedated."

"I do feel that you were hurt mentally then."

"Indeed, I was battered both physically and psychologically. Confined behind the black walls 24 hours a day, I don't even know if there is another even larger and more suffocating wall outside. What I can do is just should look at how the people are doing here.”

"Would they provide any medical treatment?"

"Yes, but it's a really unreasonable procedure that detainees are taking medication without the supervision of a nurse. This could lead to the risk of some people hiding their medication or even drug abuse, especially for patients with depression. What's more, patients did not know anything about their physical examination report or even the results of their blood tests in the hospital."

"I have thought of such situation would be happening here. Did you do something to respond?"

"Once, we detainees on the seventh floors tried to seek improved treatment through a peaceful hunger strike, which was, however, not known to the people outside. I together with some guys also requested to meet with staff from the Immigration Department in failed attempts to ask for improvement in treatment. "

“Look at what you did! That's unbelievable!!!”

"After, I authored a detailed co-signed petition letter that was sent to the then director Kris W.S. Kwong and Justice Centre, a human rights organization, respectively. I also sent a letter

inviting members of the Legislative Council and Mark Daly, a lawyer who fought for the right of adobe in Hong Kong for foreign domestic helpers, to a meeting. Nevertheless, the meeting was cancelled eventually, since the other detainees refused to attend as I was held in solitary confinement."

"What did you say in those letters?"

"I questioned the reasonable duration of the detention, the lack of medical services

and legal assistance, the various impediments preventing detainees from providing evidence as required by the Immigration Department, etc."

"Do you have some remarks in terms of your life there"

"I originally ventured away from my hometown ton seek freedom and dignity, only to receive treatment I have never have received."

“It is not the prisoners who need reformation. It is the prisons. ”

What's the space for us on earth?

I am really down, when I have finished most of this parts

As you know, Civil War torn apart my family and my life. I was forced to be away from my hometown, as one of 12000 refugees. Waiting here for more than 20 years, my heart, similar to most other refugees, is indeed a place with complex thoughts unknown to many people.

Photo 2: Hong Kong is a characterized by tall buildings in steel and glass.

But there is no reason for us to feel pessimistic. At least, we are alive and living in a safe city. Hardship is inevitable for us. Never lose our hope. Rather, hold on to our faith, and seek a home, a safe environment at every opportunity!

Changing our life doesn't always mean turning your entire world upside down, sometimes it's just about getting a new perspective on ourselves, or the world around us.

Please do Cheer up!

Reference

Hong Kong Refugees, The Invisible Wall: A Ghanaian Fighter from Seventh Floor of Detention Center (2017).