A group of protesters rest on stairs after unable to find safe passage out of Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom district of Hong Kong on November 18. Ye Aung Thu/AFP

Dozens of protesters have already left the fortified campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) this morning but there are still more inside who are unable to leave.

One 23-year-old protester who asked not to be named said that he was stuck on an undisclosed part of campus with about 20 other demonstrators. An unknown number of other protesters, many of whom are thought to be students, remain holed-up in other parts of the large central campus.

"Of course we want to leave ... If we try to leave one block they will arrest us. They are just everywhere surrounding the campus," he said.

The protester, who is not a student at PolyU, said that they were tired and scared, adding he had seen people injured with tear gas and rubber bullets. He said that while some protesters still have hope, there is an expectation now that they will be arrested.

He said his parents thought he was at his girlfriend's house and he didn't know what he'd tell them.

"Currently those around me we just want to escape, we don’t have any equipment to help us fight," he said.