A Hong Kong court’s decision to uphold a compulsory rule for migrant domestic workers to live with their employers drew criticism on Tuesday from labor rights advocates, who said it exposed the foreign workers to conditions akin to modern slavery.
The live-in rule for Hong Kong’s 370,000 domestic workers, mostly women from Indonesia and the Philippines, has long been denounced as discriminatory and inhumane — essentially putting employees on call 24 hours a day.
Monday’s ruling responded to a challenge to the requirement that was filed three years ago by Philippine worker Nancy Lubiano. She argued that the rule was unconstitutional and violated her labor rights.
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal rejected her argument and upheld a previous ruling by a lower court that found that the live-in arrangement did not directly lead to exploitation.
“This is really outrageous and unacceptable,” said Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, which represents domestic workers from the Philippines.
“The decision is discriminatory to migrant domestic workers. It shows that we are treated like second-class citizen, as modern-day slaves,” she said.
Labor groups have warned that the rule could deter the reporting of forced labor, which one in six migrant domestic workers in the territory has experienced, a 2016 study by campaign group Justice Centre Hong Kong found.
The Hong Kong government said that it was “pleased” with the ruling reaffirming the live-in requirement as lawful.
The migrant domestic workers are aware of the accommodation arrangement before they accept jobs in the territory, a government spokesman said in a statement, adding that authorities spare “no effort in safeguarding the rights and benefits” of the group.
Mission for Migrant Workers general manager Cynthia Abdon-Tellez said that the live-in rule was discriminatory because it only applies to foreign domestic workers — pushing some into appalling living conditions.
A 2017 survey by her organization found that nearly half of foreign domestic workers did not have their own room, with some forced to sleep in kitchens or on balconies in cramped apartments.
“They live in cupboards, toilets or in cubbyholes above the refrigerator or oven — whatever they can fit in. In some extreme cases, they live in what look like dog houses,” Abdon-Tellez said.
Domestic workers have better protection in Hong Kong than elsewhere in Asia, with a legal minimum wage and one mandatory rest day per week.
The mistreatment of domestic workers in the territory has come under scrutiny since the 2014 case of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian maid beaten by her employer and burned with boiling water.
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