US human rights professor denied visa by Hong Kong immigration authorities for university teaching position
- Immigration Department rejects visa application by Dr Ryan Thoreson to teach human rights full-time at University of Hong Kong
- Professor and university both unsure of reasons behind visa denial; law faculty dean pledges ‘to develop capacities in human rights research and training’
An American law professor had his visa application for a full-time job at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) rejected by the government, but both the scholar and the school said they were unsure about the reasons behind the decision.
Dr Ryan Thoreson, a full-time researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch who remotely teaches law part-time at HKU, revealed the news on Wednesday.
“I’m sad to announce I’m back on the law teaching market. As some of you know, I accepted an offer last year to teach human rights law at the University of Hong Kong, and recently found out my visa was denied,” he wrote on his social media account.
Thoreson told the Post that he had no idea why his application was denied, which he found out from the Immigration Department’s website on January 25.
“I don’t know whether it was the work that I had done previously. I don’t know whether it was that I have worked with Human Rights Watch,” he said.
“My work really focuses on sexual reproductive rights and LGBT rights, so I don’t think of it as particularly politically sensitive work.”
