Ethnic minority NGO Hong Kong Unison votes to disband, as ex-staff slam ‘irresponsible’ decision
Hong Kong Free Press
Two ex-employees of Hong Kong Unison, an NGO dedicated to serving the city’s ethnic minorities, have accused the organisation of making an “irresponsible decision” to disband after over two decades of operation.
Unison passed a motion on Friday to begin the process of winding up after 24 years of service, saying “its historical mission has been successfully accomplished.”
Chairperson Alice Chong told reporters following a special general meeting that the decision was not related to financial or political reasons and talk of disbanding had been ongoing for “two to three years.”
Immediately after the announcement, two staff members who were dismissed on Friday held a separate press conference, accusing Unison of lacking transparency and consultation with employees, volunteers, donors, and the broader ethnic minorities community before reaching its decision.
“I am so disappointed, I am so hurt. I feel like we have let our ethnic [minorities] community down,” said Javria Khalid, who joined Unison as a project officer two years ago.
“We don’t know about the winding up two or three years ago, we were never part of that discussion,” Khalid said, adding that she was only informed of the possibility of disbandment about a month ago.
“They said, ‘The mission is completed.’ I would love to say that the mission has just started,” she said.
“An NGO is not a private company that can be shuttered by a decision among a few people,” former Unison CEO John Tse said in Cantonese. “You must consult widely and obtain people’s approval to do so.”
“I think it may be a record that a 24-year-old NGO was dissolved in 12 minutes,” he said, referring to the duration of the special general meeting on Friday morning, which saw the motion passed in a 16-to-1 vote. Neither were present at the meeting, nor cast a vote.
Tse confirmed that Unison had not come under political pressure, while its savings were enough to support the operation for the next 18 months. He expressed confusion as to the real reason for the closure.
“The reason was unconvincing, even absurd,” he said. ”It certainly is an irresponsible decision.”
‘Not a service provider’
Chong told reporters that Hong Kong Unison was established at a time when few advocated for the rights and welfare of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, while government policies offered little protection against racial discrimination.
However, there are currently more than 30 NGOs working in this area and multiple government departments have teams that work on issues related to ethnic minorities, she said, adding that Hong Kong Unison had left behind a legacy of pushing for racial equality in Hong Kong.
She highlighted the NGO’s efforts in the legislation of the Race Discrimination Ordinance in 2008, as well as advocacy for equal opportunities for ethnic minorities in areas such as higher education and employment.
She said that the decision to shut down would not significantly impact the welfare of the ethnic minorities community in Hong Kong as other NGOs had begun advocating for equal rights in terms of education, employment, health, and gender.
“We value advocacy and empowerment, but Hong Kong Unison is not a service provider,” Chong said.
But Tse and Khalid said multiple projects at the NGO were forced to shut down in recent months, with the pair expecting more than a hundred people would be affected by the NGO’s closure.
HKFP has reached out to Unison for comment.
The number of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong – excluding foreign domestic helpers –had surged more than 50 per cent within a decade, from around 197,000 in 2011 to more than 301,000 in 2021.
According to the 2021 data, ethnic minorities comprised 4.3 per cent of the city’s population. South Asians were the largest group, with around 96,500 people living in Hong Kong.
The Home Affairs Department is currently funding local NGOs to run 10 Support Service Centres for Ethnic Minorities, with each centre receiving HK$10 million in the 2023-24 financial year. Unison is not one of the NGOs that receive the funding.
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