Snowden's Stay in Hong Kong

[Randy W]

An interesting article, if you care to read it, in the NY Times. Some new revelations about his time in Hong Kong

 

After Edward Snowden Fled U.S., Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong Took Him In

 

Ms. Rodel said Mr. Snowden slept in her bedroom while she and her 1-year-old daughter moved into their apartment’s only other room. Not knowing what he would eat, she bought him an Egg McMuffin and an iced tea from McDonald’s.

“My first impression of his face was that he was scared, very worried,” she recalled.

. . .

On Mr. Snowden’s second day there, he asked Ms. Rodel whether she could buy him a copy of The South China Morning Post, the city’s main English-language newspaper, she said. When she picked up the paper, she saw his picture on the front page.

. . .

“It was clear that if Mr. Snowden was placed with a refugee family, this was the last place the government and the majority of Hong Kong society would expect him to be,” Mr. Tibbo said. “Nobody would look for him there. Even if they caught a glimpse of him, it was highly unlikely that they would recognize him.”

 

 

 

[Allon]

It is an interesting vignette but it would be easy to compare Snowden to his keepers in Hong Kong but there is simply no comparison. A man who was beaten and deserted from the Sri Lankan army (one of the fiercest armies in the world) and seeking asylum in HK is just not the same as one accused of espionage who had a choice in the matter to begin with that had fewer consequences, like our military still being in the field and operational agents being compromised.

[Randy W]

New news from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong rejects asylum claims by refugees who sheltered Edward Snowden

They have 14 days to appeal and avoid deportation after Immigration Department ruling

PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 May, 2017, 12:31pm

UPDATED : Tuesday, 16 May, 2017, 2:26am

 

 

 

 

“The Immigration Department rejected their cases on the foundation that the department did not believe the asylum seekers assisted Mr Snowden ... The decisions are completely unreasonable,” Tibbo said. He did not elaborate, citing confidentiality.

The Canadian barrister, who provided legal advice to Snowden while he was in the city, complained of “factual errors” in the decision, and that it “failed to take material evidence into account”.

The department reached a decision last Thursday. The asylum seekers have 14 days to file an appeal, although their legal representative can seek an extension. Asylum seekers are usually called for an oral hearing several weeks or months after that.

 

 

 

The person in my original post above was mentioned in this article

 

“I am really shocked and I feel so sad ... I know that they might detain me. I am very worried,” said a tearful Vanessa Mae Rodel, who has a Hong Kong-born daughter, aged four. “I don’t want to be separated from my daughter. Better I die.”

 

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . and her story continues in the SCMP

 

Asylum seekers who sheltered Edward Snowden embrace new life in Canada after ‘living in hell’ in Hong Kong

• Vanessa Mae Rodel and her seven-year-old daughter touch down in Toronto with plans to settle down in Montreal
• Five other asylum seekers remain in Hong Kong, hoping Canada will accept their refugee claims

(From left) Vanessa Rodel and Keana; Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis and Supun Thilina Kellapatha with their two children; lawyer Robert Tibbo; and Ajith Pushpakumara appear at The Torture Claim Appeal Board in October 2017. Photo: David Wong

 

 

This is the end of a long chapter for the two, but five other asylum seekers – three adults and two children – who also helped Snowden in 2013 still remain in Hong Kong.

“I have lived in depression, worrying a lot about Hong Kong police and Hong Kong immigration … I am looking forward to being in a less discriminatory environment,” said Rodel, who had filed an appeal in Hong Kong after her protection claim in the city was rejected in 2017.

“I was living in hell. Always afraid every time I had to report to the Hong Kong authorities that I could be arrested and separated from my daughter,” she added. “I felt there was no compassion and care in Hong Kong. I did not feel protected and they just treat you as a criminal.”

 

 

[Allon]

This is the plight of a lot of Indonesian people who migrate out of their country. There are many of them in Singapore working as maids in hotels, and other low paying jobs. It is a kind of prison and they are treated very poorly.

 

I see that the tone of the articles here are very partial to Snowden, and these people are treated as if they were some kind of heroes, aside from their desperate condition.

 

The tragedy for the US is that Snowden released to the Russians more than what he said he did. He carried several secret projects with him that he did not release to the Guardian or Wiki. And did he really destroy everything before he went to Russia?

 

A book out says he was a spy and was recruited early by the FSB/GRU. (HOW AMERICA LOST ITS SECRETS

Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft by Edward Jay Epstein)