There is a moderately medium sized ethnic minority population of Nepalese people in Hong Kong (referred to as 'Hong Kong Nepalese'), forming roughly 4% of the total ethnic minorities population (approximately 29000 (According to census of 2016 - total 18094, but many others have already received British and Chinese citizenship which counts approximately around 10000)). They primarily came to this territory as part of the Gurkha brigade of the British Army in 1960s. After the handover in 1997, their (Gurkha Soldiers') siblings were granted rights of abode in Hong Kong. Hence, the majority of the Nepali population of Hong Kong are the children and grandchildren of Gurkha soldiers.
Nepalese are not totally invisible in society; they are visible in media discourse as well as the government policies. Also, they are relatively organized, having established their own NGOs to fight for their rights. The Nepalese are one of the fastest-growing ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
Background and social history Nepalese people began arriving in Hong Kong under British colonial rule in the 1960s as part of the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas. They continued in this employment until 1997. Their primary duties were to deter illegal immigrants and protect local residents. Most of them lived in Whitfield Barracks and Shek Kong Barracks.
After 30 June 1997, the British Government withdrew from Hong Kong, and the Gurkha brigade disbanded. These Gurkhas and their children had the right to reside in Hong Kong.Sautman, Barry. (2006) Hong Kong as a semi-ethnocracy: "Race", migration and citizenship in a globalised region, ‘Remaking Citizenship in Hong Kong’, London: Routledge, p.122 Also in 2008, a law of the UK was passed which claimed that those Gurkhas retired before 1997 would be eligible to live in United Kingdom as citizens.Simpson, Aislinn: Gurkhas win High Court battle to stay in UK. (2008). Retrieved April 10, 2010, from
Nepalese who choose to stay in Hong Kong want to take root there, especially if their children were born there. They have Hong Kong Identity Cards, but their nationality is still Nepalese. Without Chinese nationality, they are ineligible to apply for an SAR passport or a ‘home return permit’ .The ‘home return permits’ are also called hui xiang zheng, which allows visa-free entry to the Mainland. Sautman, Barry. (2006) Hong Kong as a semi-ethnocracy: "Race", migration and citizenship in a globalised region, ‘Remaking Citizenship in Hong Kong’, London: Routledge, p.125 However, since July 2024, they have been able to apply for and receive the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Resident (Non-Chinese Citizens).
There are over 40 NGOs organized by Nepalese in Hong Kong, and these social organizations have government licenses. The Southern League Organization and Hong Kong Nepalese Federation <ref>Hong Kong Gurkha (Nepal) associations, http://www.gurkha.com.hk/index.html;The Gurkha International Group was founded in 1994 by members of the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas to provide reputable employment for Nepalese men and women worldwide. This organization aims to provide efficient and reliable Nepalese recruiting and security services to employers worldwide and to establish Nepal as a source of trained seafarers for the international maritime industry. These are the two main NGOs helping the Nepalese in Hong Kong. Some of the NGOs are formed by different lineages; they provide services and share relevant news happening in Hong Kong or Nepal to different lineages, such as the lineage of Limbu, Rai, Gurung, Magar, etc.
Life in Hong Kong Occupations More than 80% of Nepalese are employed in elementary occupations.Census and Statistics Department, Thematic Report- Ethnic Minorities. (2001) p.58
Community and housing The Nepalese in Hong Kong mainly live in the Yau Tsim Mong area (33.2% of Hong Kong's Nepali population, and 2.4% of the district's population being Nepali) and the Yuen Long area (33.9%; 0.8%). As Kowloon Park was a main military camp for the brigade from Nepal, as well as Shek Kong in Yuen Long, they chose to live nearby after they left the camp. Some of them live in Wan Chai where they first arrived; in fact, their communities have spread out to more districts nowadays.
Nepalese mainly live in tenement houses. As they would prefer staying together, they would divide a flat into rooms. They rarely choose public housing because they would be dispersed across different districts. Another reason is that the time for public housing applications is too long, even if they can succeed, and they would be assigned to remote areas. Thus, public housing is not their preference for housing.
Languages The Nepalese speak different languages according to their ethnicities, which are divided by different lineages; they learn their own languages before they speak Nepali. Apart from their national languages, they speak English and Cantonese less fluently. Although the older generation was born in Hong Kong, their proficiency in Cantonese remains poor. Some would attribute the problem to the prohibition of learning or communicating with locals in the military camp. Restriction of learning Cantonese was a measure of the British to stabilize the military force.
Media In Hong Kong, there was few newspapers in the Nepali language. Everest Media Limited has published Everest Weekly since May 1, 2000, Sunrise Group published Sunrise Weekly from 2005, and Great Perfect Limited published Ethnic Voice Weekly (bilingual) since May 1, 2011. It carries both Hong Kong and Nepal news. It focuses local Nepalese activities. But now Sunrise Weekly & Ethnic Voice have already stopped publishing, while Everest Publishing is publishing irregularly.
Education Applying for school In the school year of 2009/10, the Hong Kong Government has selected 17 primary schools and 9 secondary schools located in different main areas of Hong Kong that are designated for receiving intensive on-site support to enhance the learning and teaching of non-Chinese students.Education Bureau, Education For Non-Chinese Speaking Children (n.d.) Retrieved April 9, 2010, from. http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_4405/information%20notes-%20ncs_8%20oct%202009%20(for%20uploading).pdf However, most Nepalese parents encounter difficulties in applying for school places since they cannot get access to official information.Loper, Kelly. (2004) Race and Equality: A study of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong's Education System, Centre for Comparative and Public Law and Unison Hong Kong for ethnic Equality, p.3 Instead, Nepalese parents often search for information within their own community.
As there is no special arrangement for Nepalese students in the school allocation system, their choice is limited to those mentioned schools for non-Chinese students. The mother tongue teaching policy for native-level Cantonese speakers was implemented in 1998. At that time, the policy dramatically reduced the number of English medium of instruction (EMI) secondary schools.Lao, Christy Ying.& Krashen, Stephen. (1999)Implementation of Mother-Tongue Teaching in Hong Kong Secondary Schools, Some Recent Reports, Discover, Oct, available at: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/discover/05hongkong.htm. The rest of the EMI schools are either highly competitive or relatively expensive. Thus, lower-level schools are often the choices left for Nepalese children. Other than studying in Hong Kong, some Nepalese parents would send their children to receive cheaper education in Nepal until university graduation.
After Nepalese students graduate from secondary school, their choices of enrolling in local tertiary education are limited, since most of the tertiary institutions and programs require passing the Advanced Level (matriculation) or the Advanced Supplementary (AS) Chinese Language and Culture examination. The Chinese Language in General Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (GCSE) that they mainly take is always not accepted, as the examination does not meet the basic standards of those tertiary institutions.「少數族裔不懂中文搵工難 」，《星島日報》，2009年8月12日。 It is extremely hard for Nepalese to enroll in local tertiary education.
School life and assistance Although the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau has developed specialized teaching materials for ethnic minorities for the past 10 years, students still find it difficult to learn Chinese. As this is a second language to them, students would have poorer engagement and achievements in learning .McInerney, Dennis M. (2010) The Role of Sociocultural Factors in Shaping Student Engagement in Hong Kong: An ethnic minority perspective, Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Education Meanwhile, the Education Bureau does not seem to have modified the teaching materials according to their learning abilities and needs, the materials adopted are often lack of experts’ support and teachers’ trainings .少數族裔關注組， 「對少數族裔兒童教育情況的意見及建議」，2006年1月。
Nepalese students can enjoy similar welfare to locals. They can apply for financial assistance in education, like School Textbook Assistance and Student Travel Subsidy Schemes, though the relevant information may not be sufficient for all Nepalese. In terms of language education, there are no special Chinese language classes provided by the school unless they fail in the exams. Instead, some NGOs organize Chinese language and adaptation classes to assist themEducation and Manpower Bureau, Education and Support Service for non-Chinese speaking children(2006) Retrieved April 9, 2010, from http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_4782/ncsc%20leaflet%20-%20(english)16_6_06.pdf while the Home Affairs Department offers short-term tutorials to them. Hong Kong Integrated Nepalese Society Limited, a non-profit charitable organization known as HINS, operated the Home Affairs Department's Nepalese Community Support Team project from 2006 to 2016. Under this project, HINS provides Cantonese tutorial classes for Nepalese primary-level students. Even though after 2016 HINS has no more projects, this organization still helps the Nepalese community through various classes and training, which help Nepalese to integrate into the local community. ( www.hinslimited.org )
Qualifications As the GCSE Examination in Chinese is not broadly accepted in Hong Kong society for its perceived low standard, the Nepalese graduates are often not qualified for jobs like civil servant jobs or disciplined services. The requirements on the Chinese certificates and proficiency of written Chinese are often significant barriers for them, even though some of them could speak and listen to Cantonese very well. On the other hand, those academic qualifications granted in Nepal are also not accepted by employers. Thus, with no guarantee and support on their academic qualifications, they can hardly enter any professions.
Public visibility Media discourse In January 2009, a homeless Nepalese (named Limbu Dil Bahadur) was shot dead by a policeman.Officer describes fatal shooting of Nepali, China Daily (Hong Kong). September 15, 2009 The policeman arrived to deal with a nuisance complaint about the man, who had been sleeping rough on a hillside in To Kwa Wan. Claiming that he was attacked, the policeman fired two shots, and the Nepalese was dead. After that, some media conjectured that the incident was caused by a language problem. However, two days later, the media found that the Nepalese was born in Hong Kong and he could speak Cantonese. Mainstream media based on the 2-3 minute video clip「警員何文田開槍案擊斃巴籍漢 」，蘋果動新聞，2009年3月18日