最近，我的一位好朋友告别了香港。在过去几年里，相信很多人都有过这样的体会，可以分享许多类似的故事；但我这个故事有一个根本的区别：我没有为这而失落和哽咽，而是几乎欣喜若狂。当然，我会非常想念这位朋友，但对于跟他一样背景的人来说，离开是个重大的里程碑。香港曾经拒绝给他们一个未来，现在终于可以向未来启航。
未来不明的考验
早前，我的朋友还是香港难民和寻求庇护者（RAS）社群的成员。香港约有一万五千名RAS，他们都在香港寻求保护，并为此进行了漫长的法律诉讼。不幸的是，只有不到1%的申请者最终成功并获承认为难民；即便如此，他们也不被允许留在香港。处理这些诉讼需要多年什至数十年，之后大多数RAS社群成员还是被遣返原籍国。他们在那里要面对不确定的未来，什至可能要面对起初来港逃避的那些困难和危险。
我的朋友非常幸运地成为那1%，并且正在北美开始新生活。我说，香港曾经拒绝给他一个未来，现在他终于可以向未来启航，不仅仅是因为无论如何他永远不会被允许留下来──RAS根本不可能取得永久居留权，什至连香港签证也不能。我这样说，也是因为RAS的经济和财政权利被有系统地剥夺，他们的生活极其艰难，大多数人被禁止工作谋生。
但我不想详述这些令人沮丧的事实和统计数据。相反，我想赞扬RAS社群的韧力，从我最近告别香港的朋友身上，就体现了这一点。他们在香港生活了近十五年，但从未让处境的不确定性成为他们精神上的阴霾。在这种困难的情况下，他们尽其所能地帮助自己，在所到之处都结交朋友，什至尽其所能帮助当地社区。例如，在新冠疫情期间，他们为年长的邻居购物，有时什至替他们做饭。由于他们无法工作，故透过以物易物换取所需，并且总是小心翼翼地不触犯法律。尽管他们在原籍国拥有专业学位，但当他们被确认为难民并获允许工作时，还是要从餐饮业的最底层做起。明白到朋友天天面临的处境，再想想自己为生活中的一些轻微不便而陷入困扰，实在感到羞愧。我在祷告里祈求，在那光明的未来里，我的朋友会选择成为专业生活教练，我们可以从他们身上学到的实在很多。
难民及寻庇者为社区做饭（图片由作者提供）
生命韧力的功课
的确，这些朋友在香港的经历，都有很多功课值得我们学习。最明显的是，我们身为基督徒和一个正直的人，被呼召要彼此同行。我的朋友能够充份利用他们在香港的处境，是因为他们四处建立社区和人脉。人类生命韧力的基本组成部份，就是关系。当我们在一起，不仅力量变得强大，在精神、情感和灵性上也变得强大。一个人可能很难找到道路前行，但众志成城就有可能辨别出一条笔直而光明的道路。因此，让我们在教会与RAS社群成员一起同行。不要害怕成为他们的朋友，透过这份友谊分担他们的重担，与他们一起恳切祈求。
第二，不要依靠我们自己，来满足我们所有的需求，或满足我们希望支持的人。我们经常看到个别基督徒和整个教会，因为特定社群的艰巨任务或需求而不知所措。神并没有要求我们自己解决所有的问题；相反，我们被呼召到他那里，也被呼召到彼此面前。我挑战在基督里的弟兄姊妹超越眼前视野，认识现已为香港RAS社群服务的组织和机构网络，并分配时间、资源和资金给他们，而不是试图单靠自己逆流而上。毕竟，追求效率和影响力不正是香港这个城市的精神吗？
同样的功课也适用于我们这些在这类组织工作的人，包括我自己。专业自豪感诱使我们过度分薄自己。当请求超出能力或授权範围时，我们需要谦卑和自信来承认不足，并将请求转交给另一个更适合的机构来处理。如果我们不这样做，只会让我们想服务的对象感到失望和沮丧──当我想起我的朋友时，他们在香港面临的最大压力，不是听到有人回答说「不」，而是收到空洞的承诺。
我们不要粉饰香港难民和寻求庇护者的实况。生活是艰难的、受限的、不确定的。它移动得非常缓慢，有时什至看起来静止不动。但我的朋友教晓我，这并不意味着人类精神必须屈服，尽管它可能会受到这样的诱惑。相反，当大家齐心协力时，即使是最困难的情况也有可能克服。
（标题及分题为编者所加，下见英文原文。）
作者为希望枝子 (Branches of Hope) 执行董事，本文属「与难民同行．难民不烂」系列，原文及译文由难民事工小组提供。
小组由香港的基督教教会和机构组成，一直以来支援在港难民和免遣返声请者在房屋、教育、心理、生活上的需要，帮助他们融入社会。
英文原文：
Recently, a good friend of mine left Hong Kong for good. Over the past few years, I’m sure many of us can relate to this, and no doubt have many similar stories to share. But there is one fundamental difference to this particular story: instead of feeling a sense of loss and a lump in my throat, I felt immense joy, almost exuberance. Of course, I will miss my friend dearly; but their departure marks a tremendous milestone for them and heralds the beginning of a future they were denied in Hong Kong.
That is because my friend was, until recently, a member of the refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) community in Hong Kong. There are around 15,000 RAS in Hong Kong, all of them seeking protection in our city and engaged in lengthy legal proceedings in pursuit of this. Unfortunately, less than 1% of applicants are ultimately successful and recognized as a refugee; but even then, they are not allowed to remain in Hong Kong. Processing the claims takes many years, even decades, after which the majority of RAS community members are removed from Hong Kong and sent to their country of origin. There they face an uncertain future, along with potentially the same hardships and dangers that they sought to escape by travelling to Hong Kong in the first place.
My friend is extraordinarily fortunate to be part of the 1%, and is starting a new life in North America. I say that their departure heralds the beginning of a future they were denied in Hong Kong not just because, no matter what, they would never have been allowed to stay – PR or even just a HK visa is not on the cards for the RAS in our midst. I say it also because of the exceedingly difficult existence RAS have to lead while they are here due to systemic economic and financial disenfranchisement, punctuated for the majority by a prohibition from earning an honest living through working.
But I do not wish to dwell on these depressing facts and statistics. Rather, I want to celebrate the resilience of the RAS community, embodied by my friend who recently left Hong Kong. They were in Hong Kong close to 15 years when they finally left, but at no point did they let the uncertainty of their situation cloud their spirit. They did whatever they could to help themselves in this difficult situation, making friends wherever they went, and even helping the local community any way they could. For example, during COVID they went shopping for elderly neighbors and cooked meals for some of them. Since they could not work in the beginning, they bartered for what they needed, always careful not to cross the line of the law. And when they were recognized as a refugee and allowed to work, they started at the very bottom of the restaurant industry, despite having a professional degree in their country of origin. It shames me to think what minor inconveniences in my life will already send me spiraling, knowing what my friend faced every single day. I pray in the bright future that lays ahead, my friend might choose to become a professional life coach, for there is so much we can learn from them.
Indeed, there are many lessons to be learned from my friend’s experience in Hong Kong. First and most tangibly, we are called as Christians and decent human beings to walk with one-another. My friend was able to make the best of their situation in Hong Kong because of the community and network they built up around them. Our relationships are a fundamental building block in human resilience. Together we are not just strong in the physical sense, but in the mental, emotional, and spiritual sense as well. One mind may struggle to see a way forward, but several may discern a straight and brightly lit path. So let us walk with the RAS community members among us, in our churches. Don’t be afraid to be their friend and to share their burden through that friendship; pray with them and for them earnestly.
The second lesson is not to rely on ourselves to provide for all our needs or the needs of those whom we wish to support. So often we see individual Christians and whole churches overwhelmed by the enormity of a task or a need in a particular community. God does not call on us to solve all our problems ourselves, on the contrary; we are called to Him and to each other. I challenge my brothers and sisters in Christ to look beyond their immediate horizon to recognize the network of organizations and agencies already serving the RAS community in Hong Kong, and to allocate their time, resources and finances to them instead of attempting to stem the tide yourselves. Afterall, is it not in the spirit of this City of Hong Kong to strive for efficiency and impact?
The same lesson applies to those of us, like myself, who work in such an organization. Professional pride tempts us to spread ourselves too thin. It takes humility and confidence to acknowledge when a request lies beyond our means or mandate, and to refer the request to another entity better suited to handle it. If we do not, we only manage to disappoint and frustrate the very people we seek to serve – when I think of my friend, the greatest stress to their resilience in Hong Kong was not hearing “no” as an answer, but receiving empty promises.
Let’s not sugarcoat the reality of the refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong. Life is tough, constrained, and uncertain. It moves at a glacial pace, sometimes it even seems to be standing still. But my friend has taught me that this doesn’t mean the human spirit must capitulate, though it may be tempted to. On the contrary – when we all stand together, even the toughest circumstances may be overcome.
