Demonstrations, COVID19 pandemic chipping away at HK domestic worker population
HONG KONG - Amid a downward spiral in Hong Kong's foreign domestic worker population, no fewer than 100 Filipino domestic workers recently sought assistance from the Philippine Consulate and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office after a series of flight cancellations prevented them from returning home to the Philippines due to travel restrictions, thereby racking up daily expenses in Hong Kong.
— Jan Yumul June 6, 2020 Hong Kong Immigration statistics showed that in January 2020, there were 400,121 foreign domestic workers. But by May, it shrank to 387,342. The Filipino domestic worker population fell from 219,729 in January to 212,855 in May. Similarly, the Indonesian domestic worker population dropped from 170,898 in January to 165,377 in May.
"Lei" was left jobless for three months and was initially made to pay HK$50/day at a boarding house. "Ngayon sobrang nahihirapan ako. Inutang ko yung pang boarding house ko." She says she cleans the house so she could stay for free, for now. @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/YtD3kH9FYM"Lei" , in the same group, has been left jobless for three months. She was initially made to pay HK$50 per day at a boarding house.
"Minsan wala na kaming makain," says "Gina" from Antique. She says sometimes her roommates share their food with her as they know her situation. "Wala na akong naipon kasi sakto lang po sa extension ng visa". @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/jwba15Lhj3 "Of the total applications, 85,849 OFWs were qualified and granted the one-time P10,000 or $200 cash assistance from the P1.5-billion emergency aid program for OFWs who were displaced from their jobs due to lockdowns in their host countries or stranded by the community quarantine in the Philippines," said the DOLE.
Watch more in iWant or TFC.tv "Lara," who also broke contract on May 17, held back tears as she recalled the time her employers threatened to report her to the police even if they knew she was admitted to the hospital for gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia from April 26 to 28, as well as on May 22 and 28.
"Dito naman po government naman po kasi yung ospital na pinuntahan ko. Yun nga lang, nagbabayad pa ako ng hospital room. Kaya yung pabalik-balik po ako ngayon, minsan may part-time job naman po ako kahit na risky, pinupuntahan ko para lang po may pambayad sa hospital," said Lara. At least five Hong Kong Universities have declared support for Beijing's move. They include Lingnan University, Education University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the University of Hong Kong, with the last three universities becoming a battlefield.
Joel Almeda, chairperson of the Philippine Bankers' Club Hong Kong, said that since last June, remittance companies have felt the slowing down of businesses, which had already been facing stiff competition from fintech. In April, domestic worker recruitment portal HelperChoice said it had 15,000 applicants looking for a job in their platform since January.
"We are currently looking for a partner to be able to put it in place. We have talked to several e-wallets and payment solutions in Hong Kong already and are now reaching out to the new virtual banks . We would like to launch by the end of the year," said Leclerc. Puja Kapai, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, noted that the city has had a strong tradition of activist groups that are from the grassroots, with many of them being migrant domestic workers.
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