Current law does not cover unfair treatment based on nationality and duration of stay in the city
JENNIFER.NGO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Monday, 28 March, 2016, 8:35pm
Chinese University student Sumair Hussain, who was initially denied a credit card, says the EOC treated him like he was the one who “did something wrong”. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Rights activists hope that the first comprehensive review of Hong Kong’s four anti-discrimination laws on Tuesday will eradicate discrimination based on nationality and duration of stay in the city – areas currently not protected by law.
The Equal Opportunities Commission’s (EOC) landmark report coincides with its 20th anniversary, and is also the last one under current chairman Dr York Chow Yat-ngok, who steps down on March 31.
The spotlight is on the Race Discrimination Ordinance, which is criticised for its exemptions and regarded as weaker than the other three areas – gender, disability and family status.
Margaret Ng says combining the four anti-discrimination laws into one would offer better protection. Photo: Dickson Lee
There has also been discussion of combining the four laws into one to offer more comprehensive protection.
Discrimination based on nationality or a person’s duration of stay is legally permitted in all situations, including education institutions and during law enforcement operations.
“We have high hopes that this report would address the shortcomings of the Race Discrimination Ordinance. Right now our definition of race discrimination is very narrow, which means a lot of people aren’t protected under the law,” said barrister Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, who was on the committee that drafted the ordinance.
“If someone says: ‘I’m not discriminating against you because you are racially Pakistani but because of your Pakistani nationality or passport’, that would be legal.”
The ordinance was passed with its handicaps in 2008 as a consensus among stakeholders with widely differing opinions, but Ng said it was not ideal even back then.
This also affected another group of marginalised Hongkongers – new immigrants, who faced discrimination due to their shorter length of time in the city, said Ng.
The EOC handled over 14,800 complaints of discrimination in the past 20 years, of which 5,100 cases resulted in attempts at conciliation.
But the statistics do not reflect the extent of discrimination, with complainants accusing the EOC of being too passive in seeking legal redress, on top of narrow laws.
Legal assistance has been granted to 327 cases out of 761 applications so far. Writs were served in 88 cases.
Chinese University student Sumair Hussain was denied a student credit card until he lodged a formal complaint to the EOC.
He applied at the same time as two Chinese classmates in August 2014. While they received their cards within two months, he was told his “computer-based integrated score” was not high enough and so his application was rejected without further explanation.
After Hussain persisted, he was given a new reason: his student ID card copy was not clear enough. The student lodged a formal complaint in late January and received his card a week after.
“I had a feeling it might be [discrimination], but I was sure after [I received the card],” he said.
Hussain originally wanted to continue pursuing the case, but red tape and the lengthy process with the EOC prevented it.
“I couldn’t see justice being done in my case,” said Hussain, who said the EOC was not very helpful and treated him like he was the one who “did something wrong”, instead of the other way around. “But it isn’t just about my case, there are many more out there like mine.”
No one should discriminate against another person based on any grounds
BARRISTER MARGARET NG NGOI-YEE
The EOC’s letter reply seen by the Post had taken much of the bank’s perspective, including saying that “[Hussain’s] name and colour might imply that he was a non-Chinese, however, he actually did not declare his race/national origin as a Pakistani ... it appears that [the bank] might not have knowledge of [his] race”, and had dismissed Hussain’s case.
Ng said the rigidity of the ordinance made it hard for cases to reach court, and even harder when the perpetrator was the government. She proposed lifting the nationality and duration of stay exemptions in the Race Discrimination Ordinance, and said combining the four anti-discrimination laws into one would offer better protection.
“No one should discriminate against another person based on any grounds,” said Ng.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1931379/hong-kong-rights-activists-hope-see-holes-plugged
