AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Hong Kong (CNN) – An estimated 292,000 foreign maids live and work in this metropolis of more than 7 million people. Most hail from the Philippines or Indonesia, work long six-day weeks from Monday to Saturday and many retire each night to the cramped rooms allotted to them in their own employers’ homes.
But on Sundays they break free.
On their one day off, and having few, cheap places to socialize in this dense urban jungle, they flock to the open and free spaces of Hong Kong’s downtown Central district – its parks, sidewalks and benches – and set up camp for the day.
Here they unfold their makeshift mats of brown cardboard boxes or newspaper. They laugh aloud as they eat their homemade noodles or stews. They dance in groups to the latest pop music. They catch up on the latest gossip with friends.
And this past Sunday, you could be sure they were all talking about the same thing.
In an unexpected verdict on September 30, Hong Kong’s High Court struck down a law that had banned all foreign domestic workers – largely considered second-class residents – from applying for permanent residency, or PR.
That pro-migrant ruling surprised most everyone – plaintiffs and defendants alike. The historic decision now means 40% of Hong Kong’s maids, about 117,000 of them, could soon be eligible to apply to live here for the rest of their lives.
Evangeline Barrao Vallejos, a foreign maid from the Philippines, is the person at the center of this landmark case. Were she some other kind of foreign worker – say in finance, education or journalism – she could have applied for residency after seven years. She’s been working in Hong Kong for 25 years.
Following the verdict – and even as her case unfolded – Vallejos chose to stay as low-profile as possible. She was not present at Friday’s ruling. But labor rights groups have openly welcomed the ruling.
Tim de Meyer, senior specialist at the International Labor Organization, explained that Hong Kong’s economy would stand to benefit.
"The introduction of lower skilled workers to do domestic tasks frees up higher skilled workers, increasingly women, who contribute more to the local economy. And, as in any employment sector, increasing staff turnover is never good for productivity."
Hong Kong’s pro-migrant groups cheered too. Spokespeople for the city’s Asian Migrants Coordinating Body and the Filipino Migrant Workers expressed their surprise and satisfaction at the ruling, adding that celebrations were planned.
But not everyone was ecstatic.
Ambrose Lee, Hong Kong’s Secretary of Security, announced shortly after the verdict that the government would appeal. A decision is expected October 26. In the meantime, he added, the review of all applications from domestic foreign workers seeking residency status would be suspended.
At the same time, critics continue to cite this socio-economic doomsday scenario: current Hong Kong taxpayers would be hit with more than $3 billion in social welfare spending for up to half a million new immigrants, spouses and children.
But Mark Daly, Vallejos’ lawyer, told me these stats are exaggerations.
“There may be an agenda behind that but we like to stick to the law… I think those floodgates arguments are over-dramatized and don’t really hold water. “
Daly also believes his residency debate will be more a test of Hong Kong’s independent legal system – under the terms of the city’s handover to Beijing in 1997, Hong Kong will be run under “one-country, two-systems” that protects the regions independence. He suggested Hong Kong’s leaders should not run to Beijing for backing.
“The benefit that Hong Kong has compared to other cities certainly on the mainland or in the region is its rule of law. If the government is going to be a sore loser and be like a drug addict looking for a quick fix going to Beijing because it feels good, in the long run it’s going to be bad for Hong Kong. “
As this benchmark case progresses, international and domestic labor organizations will be watching, as will the hundreds of thousands of domestic foreign workers around the world.
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