Hanh* was brought to Hong Kong at only 11 years old. Neglected and far away from his homeland, Hanh had a very challenging start to life.

Many years later, most of Hanh’s life has been marked by uncertainty and imprisonment. Having served a prison sentence Hanh was meant to be released three years ago.

Marcel* is from Madagascar. For many years, he has worked as a mechanic as well as a bus and taxi driver to provide for his wife Ana and his two sons. In 2018, he began working in a neighbouring country for an employer known to him as Andre. Not too long after he started working for Andre, he was instructed to carry a suitcase of tortoises to Hong Kong…

HKDI, together with counsel Albert Wong, Patricia Ho & Associates, and with students from the Refugee & Human Trafficking Clinic in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong, assisted Binita, a victim of trafficking, to prepare a judicial review to challenge the authorities’ decision not to classify her as a victim. On 24 March 2023, permission to launch a judicial review was granted (first stage) and the case is now pending judgment.

Despite clear evidence, Carina’s human trafficking experience was never investigated by the authorities in Hong kong, and she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. After losing her criminal appeal in March 2020, Carina reached out to Dignity Institute to seek assistance. We are now pooling their know-how and resources together to gather new evidence about Carina’s experiences so that her criminal matter can be reopened.

After being falsely recruited for a job in Hong Kong to support her children back home in the Philippines, Jane was subjected to forced labour, sexual abuse and restricted freedom of movement where she was held. Through our integrated assessment, we quickly determined that Jane was a victim of human trafficking, and assisted her in the legal hurdles she faced in returning to her home country and pursuing legal redress.