ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the context of asylum-seeking journeys in Hong Kong. It examines how refugees like Susanna navigate their lives in prolonged displacement, and how their life plan is shaped and reshaped by their everyday life encounters. The chapter demonstrates the socio-psychological realm is an important characteristic of the asylum-seeking journey. It highlights the ways that refugees cope with and negotiate the uncertainties of their journeys through honing in on survival skills and minimising feelings of fear and frustration while remaining “stuck” in Hong Kong. Many refugees worldwide find themselves in prolonged displacement. One of the tragedies of many such prolonged displacements is that refugees are often trapped in urban cities for an extended period of time without the right to work, or lack access to education and good-quality healthcare. Social capital focuses on social networks that exist between people and characteristics of those networks, the strength of ties, and the extent to which those networks foster trust and reciprocity.
