• We support vulnerable refugees, particularly women, to build resilience and nurture self-reliance for a more hopeful future.

  • Help us stay on track to hit every goal for refugees in Hong Kong.

  • World Refugee Day 2022 Photo Exhibition

About RUN

At RUN, we support vulnerable refugees, particularly women, to build resilience and nurture self-reliance for a more hopeful future. With sport as the springboard and education as the foundation, we help refugees to create a life of safety and dignity, in Hong Kong and beyond.

Watch our video to learn more about our work!

What We Do

Sport

We support our participants to rehabilitate from trauma, improve physical and mental strength, and build resilience through participating in sport.

Education

We empower our participants to nurture self-reliance through skills development, preparation for re-entry into the workforce, and access to work opportunities.

Pathways

We help to prepare our participants for and facilitate pathways to a new life of safety and dignity beyond Hong Kong.

Health & Essential Services

We provide access to basic needs such as food, housing, healthcare, and childcare.

Join Our Community

We believe that everyone has a role to play. Whether you've got resources, skills, or connections to share, all of us can play a part in building a more welcoming and inclusive city for refugees.

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  • Who is a refugee?

    A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. More than half of all refugees worldwide come from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

  • Who is an asylum seeker?

    When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum – the right to be recognised as a refugee and receive legal protection and material assistance. An asylum seeker must demonstrate that his or her fear of persecution in his or her home country is well-founded.

  • A life of limbo

    The UN's 1952 Refugee Convention, which clarifies the rights of refugees and the legal obligations of the signing countries to protect them, does not apply here in Hong Kong.

    In Hong Kong, refugees can seek “non-refoulement”, which would protect them from being returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.

    However, even with a successful protection claim, they cannot become Hong Kong residents and they cannot stay here long term.

  • Seeking asylum is a human right

    No one chooses to flee their country to be a refugee, but everyone has the right to seek asylum and receive protection.

    Asylum is a human right alongside other basic human rights like the right to marry, to have a family, to go to school, to go to work. The right to asylum is enshrined in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

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