Study finds Hong Kong domestic helpers subjected to employment terms abuse by more than 70 per cent of agencies

HKU student group warns that if trend continues, city will suffer negative economic impact as workers look for safer shores

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(From left) Students Siya Kulkarni, Emily Anderson, Johnson Phan, Kerry Lin, Kathleen Magramo, Bvelyn Zheng Yining and Tiffany Chan Yan Lok, who conducted a study on employment agencies of domestic helpers. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 8:00am, 11 May 2017Updated: 1:43pm, 11 May 2017

More than 70 per cent of employment agencies in Hong Kong charge excessive fees to domestic helpers, withhold their passports, or engage in other illegal practices, a seven-month undercover investigation has found.

The Post obtained details of the investigation by a group of students from the University of Hong Kong who are calling for stronger enforcement action, warning the problem will have a strong impact on the city’s economy and prompt domestic helpers to seek better and safer shores.

Protesters outside an employment agency in Hong Kong on March 17, 2015, following the death of Indonesian maid Elis Kurniasih, 33, after a concrete slab fell on her while she was sleeping on the balcony of a guest house run by the agency. Photo: AFP

The group, calling itself Students Against Fees and Exploitation, or SAFE, will officially unveil its findings on Thursday.

The findings of a separate study covering 3,000 Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong were released on Wednesday. It reflected the plight of the city’s two largest groups of domestic helpers, with the majority having no proper resting space and being reduced to sleeping in storage rooms, on balconies, and even in toilets.

Watch: How do Hong Kong’s domestic helpers sleep?

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