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Philippines Consul General Bernadita Catalla has pledged to provide more financial literacy programmes for helpers in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Loan shark alarm raised in Hong Kong over rash of debt-related Filipino domestic helper suicides

Manila’s top diplomat in city steps in as money worries see death toll in two months surpass whole of 2015

A series of Filipino domestic helpers committing suicide has sparked high-level concerns that loan sharks are preying on maids who arrive in Hong Kong already in debt thanks to exorbitant employment agency fees.

The Phillipines Consul General has spoken out because four domestic helpers have already taken their own lives this year – the same number as for the whole of 2015 – with three of the cases confirmed as debt-related.

Bernadita Catalla pledged to provide more financial skills classes for helpers who can be easily duped by loan companies, sending them into a spiral of debt from the day they arrive. In 2014, three Filipinos committed suicide in Hong Kong.

READ MORE: Hong Kong’s domestic helpers trapped by loan sharks and employment agencies in debt bondage hell

“It’s so easy to get a loan here but we must be careful and think of ourselves because we might end up mired in debt,” the diplomat said this month, urging members of the Filipino community against relying on friends as guarantors.

“This is a sad symptom of a problem we’ve been discussing for years,” said Legislative Council heavyweight Emily Lau, who has been pushing the Hong Kong government and the governments of maids’ home countries to tighten employment agency regulations.

She described how maids fell into debt not because of luxuriant spending habits but because they had dependents back home to support and struggled to keep up with payments.

“The main reason these women are in debt is because [governments] allow agents to collect so much money from them,” Lau added.

Lenlen Messina, of NGO Enrich, which helps foreign domestic workers grappling with debt, said: “It is really disheartening to know that lives are taken because of debt and money issues which can be managed if addressed early on.

READ MORE: Accusations, swear words and the vortex of debt hit Hong Kong domestic helper

“If left unmanaged, especially when people dismiss it, [debt] could spiral and cause a lot of problems for individuals, employers, friends who guaranteed the loan for them and of course family back home who are dependent on the money they are supposed to send.”

Earlier this year the Post reported on how agencies collude with unscrupulous creditors, forcing domestic helpers to withdraw loans will illegally high interest rates. When maids fail to keep up with their payments, they and their employers can fall prey to harassment from debt collectors.

While the Hong Kong government has pledged to implement a code of conduct as a solution to the problem, which is set to be put in place later this year, critics say it will not be legally binding.

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