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| Judge said applicants need to show enough evidence to support their claim against being sent back home |
By The SUN
A Filipina former domestic helper and a tourist who stayed
illegally in Hong Kong for 12 and five years, respectively, have failed to
convince the High Court to allow a judicial review of the Immigration
Director’s decision to send them back to the Philippines
Both Milagros S. Fulgencio and Iris Joy G. Salas claimed
they did not want to go back home because of threats on their lives. Fulgencio
said she feared being harmed or killed by her abusive husband, while Salas says
she is hiding from communist rebels whom she witnessed murdering a villager.
But in separate judgments issued on May 31, Judge Bruno Chan
of the Court of First Instance refused to grant them leave for a judicial
review of the Director’s rejection of their claims for non-refoulement, or
against being sent back home.
The Torture Claims Board upheld the Director’s decision in
both cases.
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Fulgencio, 58, arrived in Hong Kong
in January 1994 to work as a domestic helper and was terminated on Jul 20, 1995.
She was allowed to remain for 14 days after this date but she remained and
overstayed her visa.
On Feb 15, 2016, or nearly 21 years after going underground,
Fulgencio surrendered to Immigration and
then filed for non-refoulement, claiming she would be harmed or killed by her
abusive husband if she went back home. She was released on recognizance
while she pursued her case.
The Director of Immigration rejected Fulgencio’s claim on
all applicable grounds, including risk of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment; and risk of violating her right to life under Hong
Kong ’s Bill of Rights.
Fulgencio appealed to the Torture Claims Appeal Board but
this was rejected on Feb 27, 2018.
In denying her permission to appeal her case to the High
Court, Judge Chan noted that the Director found no substantial grounds to
Fulgencio’s claim that she would be harmed or killed by her husband.
The judge cited the absence or low frequency of past
ill-treatment of the applicant by her husband, and the lack of evidence to show
that he had intended to harm her through the years.
Salas, 39, came to Hong Kong
on Jun 14, 2011 as a tourist and overstayed until Sept. 10, 2015, when she
surrendered to authorities.
She claims the New People’s Army will harm or kill her for
having witnessed and a murder they committed in her village in Viga, Catanduanes.
On Feb 15, 2017, the Director rejected her claim on the same
grounds cited in Fulgencio’s application. Salas appealed to the Board, but this
was dismissed on Mar 13, 2018.
Judge Chan said Solis merely showed copies of the previous
decisions and documents from her appeal before the Board, while in her written
submission she simply repeated her claim that her problems back home had not
yet been resolved.
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