US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden sought shelter among Hong Kong refugees after he leaked a huge trove of secret documents in the southern Chinese city, reports said Wednesday.

The former intelligence contractor had quit his job with the National Security Agency and travelled to Hong Kong in May 2013 where he initiated one of the largest data leaks in US history, fuelling a firestorm over the issue of mass surveillance.

Although Snowden stayed in the five-star Mira Hotel before the leak, little was known of his situation afterwards.

Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA, revealed details of top-secret surveillance conducted by the United States' National Security Agency regarding telecom data

Snowden was hidden by his lawyers in the rundown Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong (pictured)

But a report Wednesday revealed he had been given shelter by the city's 11,000 asylum-seekers.

Many of Hong Kong's refugees are forced to live in slum-like conditions, the last place anyone would look for one of the highest-profile US fugitives.

America's most wanted fugitive was dressed in all black and disguised in a dark hat and glasses when his lawyers smuggled him to poverty-stricken districts such as Sham Shui Po.

The 33-year-old stayed with at least four refugees, according to a National Post report. It added they were all clients of lawyer Robert Tibbo, who helped hide Snowden.

'It was clear that if Mr. Snowden was placed with a refugee family, this was the last place the government and the majority of Hong Kong society would expect him to be,' Tibbo told the Post.

One Filipino woman with whom Snowden stayed, Vanessa Mae Bondalian Rodel, described him as 'scared and very worried'.

After she saw his story in local media, she described her shock. 'Oh my God, the most wanted man in the world is in my house.'

Before he released the documents and became America's most wanted fugitive, Snowden stayed at the five-star Mira Hotel in Hong Kong

He was disguised in a black outfit and smuggled into the slums of Hong Kong to hide out for two weeks

Other refugees from Sri Lanka said they were not worried about hosting Snowden, and felt he was taking a greater risk than they were.

One family told how he left money for them under a pillow before he left.

Snowden has since sent sent each of the refugees US$1,000 each for the danger they put themselves in.

'They had a hundred chances to betray me while I was amongst them, and no one could have blamed them, given their precarious situations. But they never did,' Snowden told the National Post.

'If not for their compassion, my story could have ended differently. They taught me no matter who you are, no matter what you have, sometimes a little courage can change the course of history.'

Snowden came to Hong Kong on May 20, 2013 and began a damaging series of leaks about the NSA eavesdropping of phones and computer systems that triggered concern from governments worldwide.

Media were clambering to find the whistleblower from the time he checked out of his five-star hotel on June 10 to the day he left the city for Moscow on June 23, escaping the clutches of US justice.

In July 2014, Snowden was reunited with his long-term girlfriend Lindsay Mills in Russia.

Edward Snowden stayed with at least four refugees in Hong Kong after his leak of documents in 2013, according to a National Post report

He never meant to call Moscow his home but his passport was cancelled mid-flight meaning he could not travel to South America as he'd planned.

In July 2014, Snowden was reunited with his long-term girlfriend Lindsay Mills in Russia.

The dancer joined Snowden after it emerged he wasn't going to be heading back to the States anytime soon.

His high-stakes journey is the topic of 'Snowden', a thriller directed by Oliver Stone which hits cinemas around the world in September and comes to Hong Kong in October.

Earlier this year, s peaking via Skype from Russia, Snowden told an audience of supporters in New Hampshire that he is willing to be extradited to the United States if the federal government would guarantee he would get a fair trial.

He faces US charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.

'I've told the government I would return if they would guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defense of why this was done and allow a jury to decide,' Snowden told his audience.