Hong Kong’s High Court ruled that a law preventing the city’s 300,000 foreign maids from gaining permanent residency is unconstitutional, handing a landmark victory to a Philippine worker whose case polarized public opinion over the rights of domestic helpers.
Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has lived in Hong Kong since 1986, challenged the rejection of her application, asking the court why expatriates such as bankers and cooks could apply for permanent residency after living in the city continuously for seven years.
Judge Johnson Lam (林文翰) ruled in her favor yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Vallejos’ victory, if not overturned on appeal, could open the door for Hong Kong’s foreign maids, which constitute about 4 percent of the population, to apply for permanent-resident status after seven years. At least three political parties said an influx would strain the Chinese city’s health care, public housing and education resources.
“We are disappointed at today’s judgment,” said Joseph Law, chairman of the Employers of Domestic Helpers Association in Hong Kong.
“We can’t accommodate such a sudden influx of population as this would impose a profound strain on our resources,” he added.
Imported domestic helpers in the city are required to live with their employers and aren’t allowed to accept other jobs. In 2004, the maids contributed HK$13.8 billion (US$1.8 billion) to the economy, or 1 percent of Hong Kong’s economic output that year, according to a report by the Asian Migrant Center, a nongovernmental organization.
Judge Lam ruled that the immigration law that bars foreign domestic helpers from eligibility for permanent residency “derogates” the meaning of the Basic Law. The Basic Law is the de facto constitution that Hong Kong adopted after the British handed the city back to China. The city has 7.1 million residents.
The ruling “will provide more protection and added benefits to our workers there as they enjoy both the benefits of being a Philippine citizen and a Hong Kong resident,” Philippine Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said by telephone.
Charles Chow, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Security Bureau, said the government was still studying the judgment and would say whether it planned to appeal yesterday afternoon.
“The government needs to appeal this case,” Paul Tse (謝偉俊), a lawmaker representing the Hong Kong tourism industry, said by telephone. “This could lead to enormous pressure on our medical, educational and welfare system.”
Government lawyer David Pannick argued that Hong Kong’s Basic Law allowed lawmakers to determine the status of foreign residents and that the maid wasn’t eligible to apply.
Hong Kong’s Liberal Party and New People’s Party leader Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀) have previously called on the government to consider seeking an interpretation of the Basic Law by China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress over Vallejos’ case.
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