Fifth Covid Wave hits Hong Kong’s Domestic WorkersUrgent need of meaningful support as coronavirus continues to grind away
By: Malick Gai
Hong Kong's migrant domestic workers, too often hidden victims of nebulous work contracts that allow abuse and exploitation to go on behind closed doors, have been further isolated by the fifth Covid-19 wave, according to worker rights groups. In some cases, the rights groups found, when helpers tested for the virus, employers simply kicked them out. In February alone, according to Cynthia Tellez, General Manager for NGO Mission for Migrant Workers, “47 Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers tested positive and got kicked out by their employers, many refusing to take them back although some employers stepped up to provide isolation space outside and at home." “Workers expressed feeling abandoned and neglected because of government policy and lack of support from their employers,” Tellez said. “Those who tested positive were left in parks, outside hospitals, and bus stations, negatively affecting their wellbeing." That is in the face of studies like one in 2019 by consumer credit report company Experian and local NGO Enrich that found that domestic workers’ contributions – which free up parents’ and carers’ time so they can join the workforce – equate to HK$98.9 billion, 3.6 percent of the city’s GDP, an indication of their value to the city… The text above is just an excerpt from this subscriber-only story.To read the whole thing and get full access to Asia Sentinel's reporting and archives, subscribe now for US$10/month or US$100/year.
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