Joseph Gordon-Levitt calls for donations to support Hong Kong refugees who aided Edward Snowden (VIDEO)

Hollywood actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has called on netizens to help out “Snowden’s guardian angels” — the local refugees who sheltered Snowden in 2013 — by donating to a GoFundMe campaign.

Gordon-Levitt, who played the NSA whistleblower in Oliver Stone’s biopic “Snowden”, shared an emotional plea for donations on his social media channels earlier this week.

After acknowledging the risks Snowden took to release the classified information and how “we all benefitted greatly” from his actions, Gordon-Levitt emphasised the important role that the refugees — whom he called the HK4 — played in keeping Snowden safe.

“Up until recently, no one really knew where he hid. But it came out … that he actually hid in an unexpected place,” Gordon-Levitt said.

“He hid with a handful of refugees there in Hong Kong, people who are … from Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Their names are Ajith, Nadeeka, Supun and Vanessa.”

“These four people and their families really put themselves at risk in order to help Snowden when he really needed [it], and it did work. Edward Snowden was able to get out of Hong Kong.”

“But these four folks and their families are still there, and they’re actually living in a really tough situation. It’s really difficult, life as a refugee in Hong Kong,” the actor said.

“They don’t have enough to surpport themselves, but they’re legally not allowed to work. If they went home, they’d face way worse situations.” With that, Gordon-Levitt appealed to viewers to donate to a campaign aimed at raising funds for the HK4 and their families.

After adding that he would be making a donation, Gordon-Levitt concluded that, “For those of us who are really grateful for what Snowden was able to do for our country and really for the whole world, I think this is a nice way to say thanks.”

Donate here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this article stated that Gordon-Levitt initiated the campaign. We regret the error.

Related articles:

Fugitive Edward Snowden ‘hid amongst Hong Kong refugees’

From Hell to Purgatory: Refugees in Hong Kong live in limbo under the ‘no work’ law

 


Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co


 



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on