Sleepless in Hong Kong ... on fridges and in toilets: worst places city’s domestic helpers have called a bed
This is despite labour rules in place, and a recognised international covenant
Under Hong Kong’s labour rules, domestic helpers must live with their employer, who must in turn provide them with free, suitable accommodation with “reasonable privacy”.
Sleeping on make-do beds along corridors, or sharing a room with the opposite sex are both classified as unsuitable accommodation for such workers, according to the Labour Department.
But in reality, many of the city’s domestic helpers sleep in cramped quarters that wouldn’t make the grade. Their living conditions are so bad that some have compared it to modern slavery.
Last year, a report by the charitable organisation Walk Free Foundation found at least 29,500 people out of a population of more than seven million were trapped in modern slavery in one of the 10 richest cities in the world based on gross domestic product.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is in effect in Hong Kong, no one should be held in slavery or servitude.