Multicultural social work setting

1. Multicultural social work setting POON wing-lok(November 2014)

2. 3 TARGET GROUPS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES少數族裔in HK • Constitute 6.4% population in HK (Census, 2011) • Ethnic Minority (EM) Residents 少數族裔居民 • Majority of clients are local South Asians (e.g. Pakistani, Nepalese, Indian), then South-east Asians, including locally born residents & new arrivals • Significant population increase among Pakistani (big) families • Refugees 難民/ Protection Claimants 尋求庇護者 • Majority are Africans & South Asians, over 8000 • 3) Foreign Domestic Workers 外籍家庭傭工 • Majority are Indonesians & Filipinos, on working visas • Over 260,000 FDWs

3. 1. EM RESIDENTS少數族裔居民 • Placed in Specialized Centre, Community Centre or Non-subvented Teams • SKHLMC Community Centre,Catholic Pastoral Labour Centre, Christian Action-SHINE Centre, etc. • Clients mainly suffer from language , education, employment, racial discriminationand equal access to public & mainstream services problems, affecting their tertiary education admission, employability, social integration and social mobility • Some clients lack of social supportive network (e.g. Pakistani women), and some face social exclusion and cultural identity issues in mainstream society • Clients possess cultural strengths (e.g. arts & crafts, cooking, dancing, language) and close intra-ethnic bonds • Placement services mainly rendered in Group Work (e.g. women empowerment , ambassador/ youth groups )and Community Work (e.g. outreaching, concern group, social inclusion project, lobbying), often in cooperation with EM community workers • Shift duties (e.g. weekday evening, weekend) are sometimes required

4. ETHNIC MINORITY RESIDENTS

5. 2. PROTECTION CLAIMANTS 尋求庇護者 & REFUGEES 難民 • Worked with multi-ethnic team and clients in non-subvented Centre (e.g. Christian Action CKMSC) • Clients suffer from basic need deprivation (e.g. food, shelter, transportation, kindergarten education, health), long legal processing, emotional/ mental problems (e.g. PTSD, depression) , and lack of meaningful time use (e.g. no right to work) when stranded in HK for years • Without judging whether they are genuine refugees or not, placement student provides basic humanitarian care and social services, in forms of group work (women/ arts & crafts group, men group, parent-child activity) , casework and community project (social action, action survey, community education) and sometimes in-kind donation, fundraising & media work assistance • Mostly regular office hours during weekdays

6. 2. PLACEMENT FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS 尋求庇護者, TOTURE CLAIMANTS酷刑申請者 & REFUGEES 難民 • Refugee definition: • UNHCR spells out that a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.“ • Determined by Immigrant Department under the new Unified Screening Mechanism • CAT definition: • “Claimant” means a person who has lodged a torture claim to the Director of • Immigration for non-refoulement protection (from being returned to places where their lives or freedoms could be threatened) in Hong Kong under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

7. REFUGEES/ ASYLUM SEEKERS

8. 3. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS (FDW) 外籍家庭傭工 • Placed in a non-subvented centre at the Mission for Migrant Workers, with drop-in office and 2 shelters in different locations, serving Filipino and Indonesian FDWs • Most service users suffer from exploitation & violation of employment contracts, abuse by local employers, financial problems (e.g. debts) & job performance conflicts, thereby in need of labor right & compensation protection, legal case follow-up & escort, supportive counseling and shelter services • Basic understanding of labor right and related legal knowledge would be essential, which can be briefed by experienced Filipino team (non-RSW) • Casework and group work are commonly practiced during weekdays. Mass program (e.g. festival, social action, life skill training, social inclusion) are rendered on Sundays • Besides regular office hours, evening & Sunday shift duties are required outdoor and at the shelters • Bilingual in English and Cantonese is essential to communicate with some Indonesians, escort them to police station, Labor Dept. and link up with local stakeholders

9. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS (MMW)

10. UNIQUE Learning opportunities • Ample opportunity to communicate and learn from multi-ethnic teams from diverse cultural and training backgrounds • Gain unique exposure to meaningfully work with one of the most disadvantaged, oppressed and overlooked minority groups, regardless of race, religion, culture, language & social class • Get plentiful opportunities to practice cultural sensitivity and polish your spoken English and trans-cultural communication skills • Challenging (e.g. language barrier, cultural shock) but Rewarding (e.g. eyes opening, racial harmony or equality ambassador) • Local Chinese students are probably advantaged in linking up local resources and getting familiar with local policies. Non-local students, as new arrivals, may be more able to show understanding to the language barrier, social adaptation/ inclusion challenge faced by EM clients

11. Special requirements • 1) Show genuine interest to actively learn, respect and communicate with clients and staff from diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds • Willingness and proficiency to communicate in English. Able to speak Cantonese is certainly an advantage and is often needed to communicate with Indonesians & Thai • Be self-initiated & courageous to try new approaches, do outreaching, ask under uncertainty & co-work with EM staffs from different training background • 5) Be open-minded to respect cultural differences, and be culturally sensitive to cultural and religious taboos/ strengths • 6) Be helpful to take up ad-hoc and reception duties occasionally • Be flexible to work under less structural & less resourceful settings • Be keen to empower EM clients & EM/ local Chinese volunteers promoting racial harmony and equality

12. RESOURCES & CONSULTATION • Cultural sensitivity training and placement sharing will be arranged in early stage of placement • LegCo Public Hearing concerning EM Employment & Social Integration • 扶貧小組委員會 (sub-committee of Commission on Poverty, 25.4.2014) • http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr12-13/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs51/general/hs51.htm • (EM residents: 24-27, 52-55 mins./ Refugees: 22-25 mins.) • Consultation: lokpoon@socwork.hku.hk Thank You!