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Hong Kong activists secure refugee status in Germany, one says

22 May 2019 17:43 (UTC +04:00)

Germany has granted refugee status to two Hong Kong activists facing charges at home, one of them said on Wednesday, in what is apparently the first time Germany has acknowledged such status for democracy campaigners from the Chinese-ruled city, ONA reports citing Reuters.

Ray Wong, 25, and Alan Li, 27, were granted refugees status in Germany in May 2018, Wong told Reuters in a telephone interview from Germany. He was able to show a document setting out that status,

“Now Hong Kong also has political refugees,” Wong said.

A city government spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Wong, a former member of independence group Hong Kong Indigenous, and Li were charged for a rioting offence linked to a protest that turned violent in February 2016. The pair later skipped bail and fled to Germany in 2017.