Amnesty International will close its Hong Kong offices by the end of the year, citing concerns for staff safety trying to operate under the national security law.
The decision, announced on Monday, will leave the city without the human rights organisation’s presence for the first time in 40 years.
In a statement, Amnesty said it would close its local office by the end of the month, while its regional headquarters will close before year’s end. Research, advocacy and campaign operations will be shifted to other Amnesty offices in the Asia-Pacific. The local office focuses on human rights education.
“This decision, made with a heavy heart, has been driven by Hong Kong’s national security law, which has made it effectively impossible for human rights organisations in
Hong Kong to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals from the government,” said Dr Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, the chair of Amnesty’s international board.
“Hong Kong has long been an ideal regional base for international civil society organisations, but the recent targeting of local human rights and trade union groups signals an intensification of the authorities’ campaign to rid the city of all dissenting voices. It is increasingly difficult for us to keep operating in such an unstable environment.”