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Hong Kong’s hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic helpers have been caught in the anti-government protest crisis. Illustration: SCMP

Hong Kong’s domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines struggle through fear and pain of protest crisis

  • Among those affected by months of anti-government protests are more than 398,000 foreign domestic workers
  • Many are scared and considering leaving Hong Kong, others are choosing to work in Taipei, Singapore or Dubai

Leaning on the handrail of a footbridge in Central and watching black-clad anti-government protesters march below, Daisy Martinez of the Philippines says she plans to leave Hong Kong and head to Dubai when her contract ends next year.

The 31-year-old domestic worker, had travelled from North Point early on Tuesday morning to enjoy her day off with friends on the National Day holiday marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. But the ongoing anti-government protests put an end to their plans, and she left for home soon after lunch.

“I’m so scared about what is happening here in Hong Kong,” she says. “For the past five years, I could go everywhere and do whatever I wanted on my day off. I could enjoy my day off on Sunday till 5pm, but now I have to go home at 2pm or 3pm because I’m scared about what will happen.”

Martinez, who works for a Hong Kong family, says she understands what the city has been through over the past four months of social unrest. However, the tense and volatile situation has left her and her friends in a dilemma.

“We are worried about our safety and also our jobs,” she says. “But we can’t just go back home because our families need us to support them.”

We can’t just go back home because our families need us to support them
Daisy Martinez, domestic worker from the Philippines

After five years in Hong Kong, the single mother with an eight-year-old son in the Philippines says it was not easy deciding to move to Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates. She likes her employers and regards their nine-year-old daughter as her “baby”. Her employers respect her reluctance to stay on, she adds.

Nearly four months of anti-government protests have become increasingly violent, and among those affected are more than 398,000 foreign domestic helpers. The majority are from the Philippines and Indonesia.

With more helpers spending less time out or staying home on their days off to avoid trouble and inconvenience, complaints have surfaced that some are being made to work without compensation on their rest days.

Domestic helpers earn average of less than HK$5,000 per month

Helpers have a rest day each week and tend to congregate in public areas – Filipinos mostly in Central, and Indonesians at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. Both places have shopping centres, restaurants and banks that cater to their needs.

As Central and Causeway Bay are regular protest sites, most domestic workers return home earlier than before.

Like Martinez, Analyn Mercado, 35, left Central just after 2pm on Tuesday, after seeing large numbers of black-clad, masked protesters gathering in Central. Mercado is also from the Philippines.

Two weeks earlier, she walked for three hours from Central to Chai Wan, at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, to catch a bus home to Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon. That day, MTR stations from Admiralty to Causeway were closed after being vandalised by protesters.

“We didn’t know which areas were affected by the protests, and then the protests suddenly came here and there were no MTR trains and buses,” recalls Mercado, who has also been in Hong Kong for five years.

There are more than 398,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. Photo: Dickson Lee

Some helpers now avoid public areas, spending their days off in their neighbourhoods or even at home.

Lamie, 35, a Filipino who asked to be identified only by her given name, says she has not gone to public areas on her day off since August, after learning that MTR stations had been vandalised.

“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to go back home, so I just stay in the lobby of the building where I live, to watch the news and YouTube,” she says.

Lamie, who has been in Hong Kong for almost four years, adds: “I enjoy working in Hong Kong, even if there are protests. I’ll just stay at home and keep myself safe.”

Groups that help domestic workers, however, say they have received complaints that some employers now ask their helpers to stay home on their rest days to avoid the protests, and then make them work without compensation.

“Some employers truly care about domestic workers, but there are some employers who take advantage of the situation by preventing their domestic workers to take their weekly rest days,” says Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio, 35, chairwoman of Gabriela Hong Kong, an organisation that supports Filipinas in Hong Kong.

A domestic helper in Hong Kong for 13 years, she says migrant workers understand the situation and are prepared to curtail their rest day activities or organise them away from protests.

“If the issue is safety, then domestic workers should be allowed to enjoy their rest days at home or anywhere that’s not near protests,” she says.

Domestic workers gather in Central on a public holiday. Photo: Edward Wong

Many helpers spend their rest days outside because they do not have proper rest areas at their employers’ homes, as some sleep on sofas or share rooms with the children they look after.

Under the Employment Ordinance, foreign domestic helpers are entitled to not less than one rest day a week, and employers must not compel a helper to work on a rest day except in emergencies. If a helper has to work on a rest day, he or she should be given another day off within 30 days or the employer becomes liable to prosecution and a fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,370).

A Labour Department spokesman said domestic helpers can seek redress from the department if they feel their employment rights and benefits have been infringed. The department provides free conciliation services to resolve disputes between the helpers and their employers.

Last December, the department set up a 24-hour hotline (2157 9537) for helpers who have questions about employment rights and benefits.

However, Tebia-Bonifacio says domestic helpers lack bargaining power as they are afraid of being punished or fired by their employers.

For now, helpers rely on social media, news sources and their consulates for information on the date, time and place of upcoming protests.

Domestic workers on a pedestrian footbridge in Mong Kok on June 22. Photo: Bloomberg

Both the Philippine and Indonesian consulates provide their citizens such information on social media in their own languages.

Indonesian vice-consul Vania Lijaya says the Indonesian consulate uses Facebook to communicate with all Indonesian citizens in Hong Kong, to help ensure their safety.

Indonesian domestic worker Nina, 35, says she checks the consulate’s updates to avoid trouble on her weekly rest day, which is usually on Wednesday or Saturday.

More needs to be done for these migrant workers, says Lau Ka-mei, organising secretary of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions.

“Most of the news is in Chinese and English, but many domestic helpers from Indonesia, Thailand and Nepal only read in their own languages,” she says.

Lau says many Indonesian domestic helpers rely on news published in their own language, including the Indonesian-language Suara Hong Kong News. One of its journalists, Veby Mega Indah, 39, is in danger of losing her sight in her right eye after being hit in the face by a police projectile while covering a protest in Wan Chai on September 29.

Pointing out that the newspaper is one of only a few publications in the migrant workers’ languages, Lau feels the government and consulates should provide more accurate and updated information to their citizens who are domestic helpers.

As helpers stay away from the places they usually frequent or return home earlier than before on their days off, businesses catering to them say they have been hit too.

Foreign domestic helpers enjoy a day off as protesters march in Causeway Bay. Photo: Bruce Yan

An Indonesian restaurant in Causeway Bay now closes at 4pm instead of 10.30pm on weekends. The owner, who declined to be named, says he used to earn more than HK$100,000 monthly, but his takings have fallen so sharply that he has had to fork out HK$40,000 to HK$50,000 every month since June to cover his operation costs. He had some relief, however, when his landlord cut his monthly rent by HK$10,000.

At another restaurant serving Southeast Asian food in Causeway Bay, there were only a dozen lunchtime customers on Monday. Business has fallen by 70 per cent since June, according to a staff member who asked to be identified by only his surname, Kwok.

“We are seeing fewer domestic helpers,” he says. “They used to come on weekends and stay longer after lunch, chatting with each other for some time. But now they either leave right after lunch or simply don’t come at all.”

He adds that he has smelt the pungent fumes of tear gas more than once at the basement-level restaurant. 

Employment agencies that provide foreign domestic helpers to Hong Kong employers say they, too, have seen a big drop in business.

Mike Cheung, president of Hong Kong-based Overseas Employment Centre, says helpers are afraid to travel to Central and Causeway Bay to meet potential employers.

News of the protests has also resulted in some who are still in their home countries choosing to work in Taipei or Singapore instead of Hong Kong.

Cheung says: “Our business was down by over 40 per cent in August compared to the same period last year, and we saw no sign of any reversal in September. So we expect this will get worse.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Helpers running scared
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