Hong Kong’s helpers overworked, burdened with debt and suffering forced labour – new report demands new regulations and an end to the live-in rule
Indonesians 70 per cent more likely to be in forced labour than others, while the requirement that helpers live with their employers should end, says new report into working conditions for migrant domestic workers
One in six migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong employed in ‘forced labour’, according to a report released today by a non-profit human rights organisation based in the SAR.
Surveying 1049 workers from eight south-east Asian countries, a new report by human rights organisation The Justice Centre found that 17 per cent fulfilled criteria the International Labour Organisations determines as forced labour.
These criteria take into account difficulty for the employee to leave freely, alongside whether they work under extreme duress.
“Migrant domestic workers are uniquely vulnerable to forced labour because the nature of their occupation can blur work-life boundaries and isolate them behind closed doors,” the report states. “They are often overworked and undervalued.”
More than 35 per cent of respondents had an “excessive” debt burden and were six times more likely to be in forced labour, with a mean monthly repayment of HK$1,278 and debt-to-income ratios equal to or more than 30 per cent of their reported annual income, according to the report.
Average working hours among all respondees exceeded 70 hours, and over one-third were not allowed a full 24-hour rest period they are lawfully due, according to the report.
Indonesians were reported to be 70.5 per cent more likely than a non-Indonesian to be in a situation of forced labour, according to the survey in which predominately interviewed workers from the Philippines and Indonesia, while also interviewing workers from Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.