Statement on Queen's students on exchange with universities in Hong Kong

Statement on Queen's students on exchange with universities in Hong Kong

By Communications Staff

November 17, 2019

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Queen’s University is very concerned by ongoing events and recent escalations in Hong Kong. We have been in contact with all 15 of our exchange students to confirm they are safe. The safety and wellbeing of our students is the highest priority for Queen’s.

We have strongly recommended affected Queen’s students return to Canada for the remainder of the term, and have offered assistance to facilitate completion of courses, financial assistance for flight changes, and temporary accommodation in Kingston.

Queen’s has partnerships with five universities in Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong (City University), Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Last week, some of Queen’s Hong Kong partner institutions cancelled or suspended courses and activities after violence spread to their campuses; others are seeing their services and/or campus safety compromised. In response, Queen's has initiated our emergency support program under the Off-Campus Activity Safety Policy (OCASP) and is working with International SOS to keep our students informed of the security services available to them.

We are also in contact with our partner institutions in Hong Kong, other Canadian universities with students situated there, and Global Affairs Canada, as we actively monitor the situation.

Decisions regarding the winter exchange program to Hong Kong are expected to be made shortly.