Amnesty International opens Hong Kong office overseas with ‘exiled’ activists

Human rights organisation led by city’s activists including former opposition lawmaker Fernando Cheung and wanted activist Joey Siu Nam

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The entrance to one of Amnesty International’s two former offices in Hong Kong, two months before the organisation shut down its operations in the city at the end of 2021. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:57pm, 15 Apr 2025Updated: 6:55pm, 15 Apr 2025

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has opened a new Hong Kong office based overseas led by diaspora activists following its exit from the city in 2021, in what the group described as its first section to be operated entirely “in exile”.

The NGO announced on Tuesday that Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas would be led by the city’s activists based in jurisdictions such as Taiwan, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States – many of which have welcomed thousands of Hongkongers in recent years.

“The opening of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas marks a new chapter in the organisation’s strengthened commitment to human rights in Hong Kong and its support for the Hong Kong diaspora around the world,” said Luk Chi-man, executive director of the new office.

Dozens of civil society groups disbanded after the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020. Thousands of Hongkongers have emigrated overseas in the ensuing years for various reasons.

The organisation said the new office would focus on Hong Kong issues but would operate outside the city due to the “shrinking space for civil society and freedom of expression in Hong Kong”.

Officially registered in Switzerland, the opening also marked what the advocacy group called its first section to operate entirely “in exile”.

The new office’s board members include former opposition lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung and activist Joey Siu Nam.