What is global youth connect (GYC)?
We are an integrated accepting glocal youth community compose of local, mainland Chinese, refugees and asylum seekers.
Behind Hong Kong’s glittering façade, an estimated 13,000 refugees and asylum-seekers (REF/AS) from across the globe are stranded in the city, waiting for decisions on their cases before the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) of Immigration Department and the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Upon arrival, asylum-seekers struggle to meet their basic needs for shelter, food, and health care. They often arrive in Hong Kong severely traumatized, having experienced genocide, war, physical and mental torture, persecution, or natural disaster, and thus find the transition to Hong Kong even more difficult.
Despite the many psycho-social and daily life challenges faced by young asylum seekers and refugees, there is little support for them. One way for young asylum seekers and refugees to receive crucial support is through being part of a youth group. Members of the group can develop a sense of belonging in an often hostile foreign living environment by making friends and reducing isolation, find release from the burden of the responsibilities they bear every day, deal with discrimination, and, through greater integration with both local youth and those who share similar refugee backgrounds, feel more positive about their identity. By contributing and integrating to a new community, dignity and self-worth can be restored.
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Global Youth Connect