Forum of March 2024: Realising and exercising rights in the UK
In the March forum we discussed the civil rights of BN(O) Hong Kongers in the UK, specifically labour and voting rights. Making migrants aware of their rights is important in welcoming. Many Hong Kongers are entering the job market in the UK. At the same time, 2024 marks two important elections in the UK, in which BN(O) status holders have full voter rights to participate in. The meeting highlighted the difference of how citizens could exercise their rights in the UK from Hong Kong and discussed how Hong Kongers are learning and exercising their rights in the aforesaid two areas.
We are honoured to have Artie Lam from Vote for Hong Kong 2024 and the representative from Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor.
In the first part of the forum, Artie from Vote for Hong Kong 2024 gave an overview of BN(O)s' voting rights in England and the devolved nations in the UK. He clarified some queries around the voting rights such as the difference between a qualifying foreign national and a qualifying Commonwealth citizen. Artie also shared their views on BN(O) Hong Kongers' position in the UK's political landscape, whether BN(O)s are aware of their right to vote and familiar with the political landscape in the UK, and the challenges for Hong Kongers to learn their rights and issues around the election. The challenges include some Hong Kongers may not have a National Insurance number for registration if they don’t plan to enter the labour market. It is also known that some may have safety concerns during canvassing. On the other hand, he suggested that Hong Kongers could be a vital group to swing or impact the outcome for some areas with marginal seats. It is important for Hong Kongers to exercise their voting rights to include their voice in the elections and the policies.
Moving to the second part of sharing about labour rights, the representative from Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor referred to WC4HK’s recent survey to give an overview of Hong Kongers working in the UK. More than half of the BN(O) Hong Kongers are employed or self-employed. The representative shared the five main categories of concerns or enquires around employment rights that Hong Kongers came to them. These are issues around contracts such as lack of written contract, deviation of the terms and conditions between contract and actual work; pay issues including calculation problem and wage in arrears; sick leave entitlements and exercising; work injury entitlement and exercising; discrimination and bullying in the workplace. The representative pointed out that BN(O) Hong Kongers have a relatively low awareness of their labour rights in general and only a few would join the labour union. They tend to seek help from KOLs on social media platforms such as Facebook groups and YouTubers. It is suggested that the government or local authorities can promote and educate BN(O)s and other migrant groups about their labour rights more proactively, apart from the current information available in the welcome pack.
The group engaged in an insightful discussion on sharing what information available for the BN(O) Hong Kongers to access for their rights. The members also discussed what could be done further in the view of the challenges and difficulties that Hong Kongers are facing as mentioned by the speakers.
