A Filipina who was sacked as a domestic worker in Hong Kong after being diagnosed with cancer — a case that exposed the vulnerability of low-paid foreign workers — has passed away, a friend confirmed yesterday.
Baby Jane Allas, 40, was told she had stage 3 cervical cancer two years ago and was promptly fired by her employer, who cited the illness as the reason for termination.
The single mother of five instantly lost the right to healthcare, and had to regularly apply for visa extensions as she navigated Hong Kong’s legal and immigration systems while battling cancer.
Supporters crowdfunded her treatment, and Allas successfully overcame her cancer.
However, she died on Saturday from complications related to a kidney infection.
“Baby Jane passed away suddenly last weekend at her home in the Philippines,” Jessica Cutrera, an American in Hong Kong who led the crowdfunding campaign and took Allas in, told reporters.
“We are all devastated by this, especially given her successful battle with cancer. She lived with us for nearly a year during her fight and treatment, and we are heartbroken by the news,” she added.
Allas was awarded HK$30,000 (US$3,859 at the current exchange rate) damages from her former employer — who hailed from a wealthy Hong Kong family of Pakistani origin — for sickness allowance, medical fees and wages in lieu of notice.
She returned to the Philippines last year, but had hoped to return to Hong Kong for work.
The Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission also took up her plight earlier this year, launching a separate discrimination case against her former employer.
Cutrera, who employs Allas’ sister, said that the family hoped to continue pursuing the discrimination case “on behalf of her estate.”
“Her sister flew back today to be with the family and we are now focusing on figuring out what is needed for the surviving children,” she said. “We had funds left over that we were saving for future care needs, and have been able to use those to pay for her funeral and cover the family for the next few months.”
Nearly 370,000 domestic helpers work in Hong Kong. Most are women from the Philippines and Indonesia working for low wages, often living in grim conditions and sending much of their wages back home to support their families.
Hong Kong authorities say that the system is fair and that abuses are rare, but rights campaigners say that domestic helpers are routinely exploited, with laws providing them little protection.
Experts say that steep agency fees, a requirement for maids to live with their employers, a minimum monthly wage of just HK$4,630 and rules that require fired domestic workers to quickly depart the territory leave maids acutely vulnerable to abusive or unscrupulous employers.
The US Department of State has placed Hong Kong on a par with Cambodia, Pakistan and Nigeria in annual human trafficking rankings, partly because of the lack of protections offered to domestic helpers.
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