Three out of five domestic workers in Hong Kong are not provided with adequate accommodation, according to a new study by Mission for Migrant Workers.

The research was carried out among 3,000 foreign domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines last year (2016).

The NGO found that one in 50 domestic workers slept in areas such as toilets, storage rooms, basements, balconies, roofs, closets or sub-divided common spaces.

14 per cent do not have ready access to a toilet at all.

“I feel I don’t have privacy because I feel uncomfortable because my employer can enter my room anytime.”

“We agree because we need to earn money. If we disagree, of course, we’re sent to the agency or we’re sent to go back home, right?”

Tsui said most employers in Hong Kong face limitations such as cramped living spaces and high housing prices. “My two sons also share a room,” she said. “If I had an extra room, why would I subdivide my living room as a bedroom for my domestic worker?”

Michael Li of the Liberal Party’s Task Force on Foreign Helper’s Problems suggested the Immigration Department conduct surprise home inspections or require employers to provide photos or videos of their apartments.







Example of boarding house (live out; illegal since 2003-present)


https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/05/10/hong-kong-domestic-workers-made-to-live-in...

September 8, 2016

http://refugeesmigrants.un.org/summit

Eni Lestari, a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 17 years and chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), was chosen by the Office of the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations to speak as representative of migrants around the world in the first ever UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants

HK FDW to address UN assembly for first time on rights of migrants vs exclusion, commodification and slavery.

The world must know of the plight of migrant workers. The world must know that in Hong Kong, migrant domestic workers are still very much marginalized, excluded and unprotected.

“My experience as a domestic worker in Hong Kong (17 years) has made it clear to myself that treating migrants as second- or even third-class people or as mere commodities to trade as cheap labor opens the floodgates for all sorts of abuses to happen. There can be no essential improvement in the condition of migrants for as long as we are not seen as people, as workers, and as women with rights,” Lestari stated.

wearemigrants.net

The rules are in place - they just need to be followed.

Embassies of FDH should do more to service their nationals in abuse cases and keep up with them on complaints, even do spot checks to ensure compliance in case FDH are reluctant to complain or intimidated.

They are part of the problem in allowing problems to fester when they should be part of the solution to educate their people and help them come forward to pursue violations without fear of reprisals.

Employers, agents and employees all need regular education and monitoring to ensure compliance!