DRAFT LETTER FROM PS
TO: Dr Andrew Purkis
Secretary for Public Affairs
Lambeth Palace
LONDON SE1 7JU
Thank you for your letter of 30 March about the case
of Mr Manh Luong Nguyen.
Hong Kong's status determination procedures were designed, in conjunction with UNHCR, to apply the
criteria of the 1951 UN Convention and its 1967 protocol
relating to the status of refugees. Interviews follow a
standard questionnaire designed in agreement with UNHCR.
All asylum seekers are briefed on the screening process
by UNHCR staff and legal counsellors have unrestricted
access to screening interviews. As a further measure,
the Hong Kong authorities have now arranged for all
asylum seekers to have their statements read back to
them. This follows Justice Mortimer's comments on the
desirability of such a practice in judicial review of the
procedures in the Hong Kong High Court last year.
The first instance decision on the claim to refugee
status is notified to all asylum seekers. Those not
granted refugee status are advised of the right to seek
review of the decision which must be exercised within 28
days. The reviews are undertaken by a Refugee Status Review Board which is headed by a former judge and
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