I am Phil Chan, a human rights scholar and Human Rights Press Awards-winning columnist from Hong Kong resident in the UK. I am also now homeless and destitute, and reaching out to you today for urgent help.

支持英國無家可歸的香港人權學者及人權新聞獎專欄作家

我是陳政偉，一位在英國居住的香港人權學者及人權新聞獎專欄作家，現無家可歸一貧如洗，今天希望向您尋求緊急協助。

For those who don’t know me well enough, I read law at the University of Hong Kong (graduating with a Medal in Law at 19, in 2002), Durham (2004) and the National University of Singapore where I received my Ph.D. in 2013. I have been published on LGBTQ+ rights since 2004 when LGBTQ+ rights were less fashionable in public discourse, and have built an established research profile with peer-reviewed publications comprising one monograph, China, State Sovereignty and International Legal Order (Brill, 2015, Foreword by Simon Chesterman), and over 30 original articles in journals including such highly ranked ones as Criminal Law Forum, Human Rights Law Review, Leiden Journal of International Law, Sexuality & Culture, and Singapore Journal of Legal Studies. I am Guest Editor of two peer-reviewed interdisciplinary International Journal of Human Rights special double issues (Forewords by Archbishop Desmond Tutu), on Equality in Asia-Pacific: Reality or a Contradiction in Terms? (2007) and Protection of Sexual Minorities since Stonewall: Progress and Stalemate in Developed and Developing Countries (2009), both reprinted as Routledge books. A Human Rights Press Awards-winning columnist focused in recent years on China’s national security law for Hong Kong primarily for South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com/author/phil-c-w-chan), I am author of over 40 op-ed, reference and policy articles. I have given 90 guest lectures and seminars, keynote panels and conference papers at universities and think tanks including ANU, Auckland, Berkeley, Cambridge, Clingendael, Copenhagen, Dalhousie, Erlangen-Nürnberg, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Glasgow, Harvard, HKU, HKUST, Humboldt, the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Leuven, LMU München, Lund, Maastricht, Melbourne, SOAS, St Andrews, Stellenbosch, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Tsinghua, UCL Institute of Education, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Xiamen and Zagreb. In 2021 I served as an expert witness in a United States federal trial on risk of harm in returning children from the United States to Hong Kong under United States, Hong Kong and Chinese laws and international law through a 57-page expert report (with over 1300 pages of documentary evidence) and 13 hours of testimony.

我在香港大學 (2002年)、杜倫大學 (2004年) 和新加坡國立大學法律學畢業 (2013年博士)。我自2004年發表關性少數群體權利文章並透過同行評審出版物建立了既定研究概況，其中包括一本專著《中國、國家主權和國際法律秩序》(2015年)。我是兩本經過同行評審的跨學科《國際人權雜誌》特刊(德斯蒙德·圖圖大主教前言)的客座編輯，題為《亞太地區的平等:現實還是術語上的矛盾?》(2007年)和《石牆事件以來的性少數群體保護:發達國家和發展中國家的進展與僵局》(2009年)。我是一位榮獲人權新聞獎專欄作家，近年主要為《南華早報》(www.scmp.com/author/phil-c-w-chan)關注香港國安法。我在世界各地大學和智囊團做過 90 場客座講座和研討會、主題演講和會議論文。2021年我在一美國聯邦審判中通過57頁的專家報告(及超過1300頁的書面證據)和13個小時證詞擔任專家證人，該審判涉及根據美國、香港和中國法律以及國際法將兒童從美國送回香港的傷害風險。

Those were the (very) good times, even if memories of my childhood traumas – sexual abuse by one of my brothers-in-law, repeat abandonment by my mother, homophobic bullying in school in Hong Kong – were always haunting me. Due to the deterioration and eventual breakdown of a relationship with someone for whom I was sole carer for five years, I was involuntarily committed in Cape Town in January 2025 for four days for suicidal ideation and attempted suicide on the Thames in May 2025, and am homeless and destitute since 31 December 2025. It amazes even me that I survived January and February in unusually cold and wet wintry conditions in London (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/27/wettest-winter-england-decade-link-climate-change/), and it truly has been a profoundly humbling experience, from which I do hope without being cliché I might emerge a slightly better, kinder, less judgmental person, if I manage to survive this crisis. It most certainly has been a real test of faith and resilience.

那是(非常)美好的時光，即使我童年創傷的記憶—一位姐夫性虐待、母親多次遺棄、港校裡的恐同霸凌—一直困擾著我。由於與我單獨照顧五年伴侶關係惡化並最終破裂，我於2025年1月因自殺意念而被迫在南非開普敦非自願住進精神科病房四天，並於2025年5月在倫敦泰晤士河上自殺未遂，自2025年12月31日我無家可歸一貧如洗。連我自己都感到驚訝我在倫敦異常寒冷和潮濕的冬季條件下熬過了一月和二月。這確實是一次令人深感謙卑的經歷，我確實希望如果我能度過這場危機我會成為好一點、友善一點、少評判一點的人。這經歷無疑是對信念和韌性的真正考驗。

On the basis of my homelessness and destitution, the Home Office removed the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition attached to my British National (Overseas) visa on 21 January 2026 (impressively only three working days after I requested change of conditions, when the average wait time was 10 weeks per R (SAG & others) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 2984 (Admin)), and I have been able to draw GBP601 a month on Universal Credit since. However, I have been refused homelessness assistance by Kingston Council as it has deemed me ‘non-priority need’. During two assessments the housing solutions officer gave every indication she was incredulous a legal academic with a Ph.D., one who went to Durham, could be homeless or worthy of any public social assistance, and questioned whether it was because of my pride that I did not seek help from others. Since January 2026 I have applied for over 270 job openings, including at pubs and restaurants as waiter, and have consistently been rejected without or after interviews (and unpaid trial shifts).

鑑於我無家可歸和貧困，英國內政部在我請求改變條件後僅三個工作日於2026年1月21日取消我英國海外國民簽證所附「不得求助於公共資金」條件。然而京士頓皇家自治市議會因為認為我「非優先需求」拒絕為我提供無家可歸者援助。住房解決方案官員在兩次評估中充分錶明她不相信一名有博士學位的法律學者會無家可歸或值得任何公援，並質疑是否我驕傲而沒向他人尋求幫助。自2026年1月我已申請了270多個職缺，包括在酒吧和餐廳擔任服務員，但一直在未經面試或經過面試(以及無薪試班)情況下被拒絕。

Since I became homeless and destitute on 31 December 2025, I have been subjected to sexual exploitation, unsolicited offers to buy sexual services for GBP50, racist and homophobic abuse, and violence from drug dealers on the streets in London. Returning to Hong Kong is not a viable option given my public record as a pro-democracy columnist pre- and post-National Security Law Hong Kong and as an expert witness in a United States federal trial on risk of harm in returning children from the United States to Hong Kong, which under HK-NSL amounted to sedition, incitement to sedition, incitement to incitement to sedition, collusion with foreign forces, etc. (although I have sometimes wondered if being imprisoned in Stanley Prison might be preferable to being homeless and destitute in the UK – it would certainly be fitting considering how much I endured at, and how hard I tried to escape from, its next-door neighbour that is St Stephen’s College three decades ago). At any rate, my homelessness and destitution will become merely a matter of geography, and my mother has told me on multiple occasions she and two of my three sisters will call the National Security hotline, if I return to Hong Kong.

自2025年12月31日無家可歸一貧如洗，我遭受性剝削，種族主義和恐同虐待，及倫敦街頭毒販暴力行為。鑑於我在香港國安法前後作為親民主專欄作家的公開記錄，以及在一美國聯邦審判中就兒童從美國送回香港造成傷害的風險作為專家證人，返港不是可行選擇，因為據香港國安法這當於煽動叛亂、煽動煽動叛亂、與外國勢力勾結等(儘管我有時想是否在赤柱監獄被監禁可能比在英國無家可歸好)。無論如何如果我返港我無家可歸和貧困將只是地理問題，而且我母親已多次告訴我她和我三個姐妹中的兩個將撥打國安熱線。

Ultimately, returning to Hong Kong and being imprisoned or homeless there might not be an option to which I could say no. At present I am most concerned about not being able to pay for an Indefinite Leave to Remain application which I must submit to the Home Office during a 28-day window in July (1–28 July 2026) as my British National (Overseas) visa expires on 29 July 2026. But for this reason I would not be initiating this fundraiser, given my pride, my guilt, my shame. Then again, I couldn’t help but wonder, as someone who has dedicated his entire adult existence to the cause of human rights, maybe, just maybe, it might be time I should ask for help for myself? (In launching this fundraiser I was significantly inspired by that for James Van Der Beek's family; if even a Hollywood actor's family needed help, who was I to think I could manage without?)

最終回港被監禁或無家可歸可能是我無法拒絕的選擇。目前我最擔心無法支付英國無限期居留申請，因為我英國海外國民簽證將於2026年7月29日到期而必須在7月1日至28日向內政部申請無限期居留。但出於這因，考慮到我的驕傲內疚和羞恥，我不會發起這籌款。我忍不住想，作為一個將整個成年奉獻給人權的人，也許，只是也許，是時候我應該為自己尋求協助嗎？ (在發起這籌款時，我也受詹姆斯范德比克(James Van Der Beek)家人啟發；如連好萊塢演員家人也需協助，我憑什麼認為自己可在沒有協助情況下應付自如？)

For these reasons, I humbly ask if you might be so good as to extend me a helping hand at my gravest moment of need since 29 February 1996, whether you were once my classmate sat next to me in Hong Kong (Pokfulam or even Stanley), Durham, Singapore or The Hague, whether you were once my student in New Zealand, China or Australia, whether you and I worked together in research or other endeavours, whether you and I spent time together in a personal capacity, or whether you don’t know me at all but think you might still want to help me, and make a donation to my Indefinite Leave to Remain application fee and ongoing subsistence and housing needs. Whoever you are, and for whatever amount you might be willing to extend, I would be eternally grateful – as they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed, and I will never forget your kindness, your generosity, your support.

基於這些原因，我謙虛地問您是否可以並願意向我自1996年2月29日以來我最須要幫助的時刻伸出您援助之手，無論您是否曾經是在香港(薄扶林甚至赤柱)、英國杜倫、新加坡或荷蘭海牙坐我旁邊的同學，是否曾經是在紐西蘭、中國或澳洲我的學生，是否和我一起從事研究或其他工作，是否和我一起度過時光，或者是否您不認識我但認為您可能仍然想協助我，為我英國無限期居留申請費和持續生活和住房需求捐款。無論您是誰，無論您願意捐多少，我都會永遠感激不盡。正如人們所說，患難見真情，我永遠不會忘記您的善意、您的慷慨和您的支持。

Thank you, wholeheartedly. Phil.

全心全意謝謝您。

陳政偉博士，香港人。