11/2/13 Transgender woman arriving from Taiwan alleges mistreatment in Hong Kong | South China Morning Post

www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1346238/transgender-woman-arriving-taiwan-alleges-mistreatment-hong-kong 1/4

A transgender woman claims that immigration and customs officers behaved "like

animals'' during a body search and mocked her during a nine-hour ordeal at Chek

Lap Kok airport.

A war of words has broken out over claims by a transgender woman from

South America that immigration and customs officers behaved "like animals''

during a body search and mocked her during a nine-hour ordeal at Chek Lap

Kok airport.

Hong Kong officials strenuously deny the allegations and insist proper

procedures were followed amid initial suspicions about her identity and the

reason she arrived here from Taiwan.

The woman, who wants her name and nationality withheld for legal reasons,

is now applying for asylum in the city. She fears that if she returns to the

country of her birth she will be killed by bigots whose violent attacks she says

forced her to leave.

Lawyers for the 25-year-old say her experience illustrates the levels of

discrimination transgender people face as it emerged that at least two

transgender women from Mongolia have been successfully re-located to a

third country after gaining asylum in Hong Kong. Applications by two others,

one the woman in the airport row and a Sri Lankan national, are being

assessed.

The latest sanctuary bid comes as a direct result of the airport incident

because it led Taiwan to block her return, sparking fears she would be

deported back to her home country after being stabbed and shot at.

Changes in her appearance due to hormone treatment prompted Taiwan to

ask her to update her passport. The nearest consulate was in Hong Kong.

On her arrival in Hong Kong on September 16 she claims staff ridiculed her

because she was dressed as a woman. She was refused entry because

immigration officials could not verify her explanation about the passport with

her country's consulate.

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3 Nov 2013

NEWS›

HONG KONG IMMIGRATION

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 03 November, 2013, 6:28am

UPDATED : Sunday, 03 November, 2013, 6:28am

Lana Lam

lana.lam@scmp.com (mailto:lana.lam@scmp.com)

Transgender woman arriving from Taiwanalleges mistreatment in Hong Kong

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11/2/13 Transgender woman arriving from Taiwan alleges mistreatment in Hong Kong | South China Morning Post

www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1346238/transgender-woman-arriving-taiwan-alleges-mistreatment-hong-kong 2/4

Later, two male customs officers took her to a small room to carry out a body

search despite her repeated requests for a woman. She says they touched

her penis and breasts with their hands, a claim customs officials deny.

"They were animals. I kept asking for a female but they said if I refused [the

search] they would deport [me]. When it was over, I was destroyed."

A customs spokesman said: "The passenger had his clothes on during the

whole search and customs officers did not touch any sensitive parts of his

body."

She was released when officials verified her story.

The woman also claims she was mistreated by staff at Queen Elizabeth

Hospital who wrongly diagnosed her as a psychiatric patient on September

30 and put her in restraints.

The hospital says the action was necessary as she was suicidal.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition asTransgender woman 'mistreated'

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