Waiting at the gates of Hong Kong: Russian refugees in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s

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Title: Waiting at the gates of Hong Kong: Russian refugees in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s
Author(s): Scherr, Stefanie
Abstract: A wave of thousands of Russian refugees migrated from mainland China through Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s. The resettlement of these Russian migrants was fraught with difficulties. For more than two decades they were stranded in Hong Kong hoping for resettlement in Western countries such as the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. The Russian refugees experienced their migration through Hong Kong as a waiting period and a time of transition on their way to respective countries of resettlement. Life stories, biographical and archival documents described this waiting period as a situation of ambivalence and uncertainty, but also as a moment of agency and resistance. The migration experience of the Russian refugees provided insight into Hong Kong's refugee policy after the Second World War and highlighted the relief work of the UNHCR and various voluntary agencies such as the World Council of Churches.
Publication type: Working paper
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. The Swinburne Institute for Social Research
Source: LEWI working paper series / Si-ming Li and Cindy Chu (eds.), No. 116 (Oct 2011)
Publication year: 2011
Keyword(s): 20th century history; European refugees; Hong Kong; Life stories; Oral histories; Refugee policy; Russian migrants
Publisher: David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University
Publisher URL: http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/website2011/list_of_papers.html
Peer reviewed