Hong Kong labour chief meets Cambodian and Bangladeshi consuls general over plans to bring in more domestic helpers, as authorities respond to Indonesian fee rise
- Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun speaks to Cambodian Consul General Puthisathbopeaneaky Pech and Bangladeshi counterpart Israt Ara
- Labour Department exploring options for bringing in more domestic helpers from the two nations in response to fee rise for employers hiring workers from Indonesia
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said he explained the government’s position on expanding the import of workers to Cambodian Consul General Puthisathbopeaneaky Pech and her Bangladeshi counterpart Israt Ara.
“I told the two consuls general that the Hong Kong government welcomes more of their nationals to take up foreign domestic helper jobs in the city,” said Sun in a post on his official Facebook page.
The Labour Department will explore measures to bring in more of the workers from the two countries, the minister said.
Hong Kong’s Indonesian domestic helpers in training call to ease fee fears
The department arranged the meetings after Indonesia announced last week that it would enforce the revised fee policy, under which Hong Kong employers have to pay thousands of dollars more when hiring domestic helpers.
The country warned that it would not process the applications of employers who failed to follow the regulations.
Sun repeated that policy changes should not increase the burden on city employers or affect employment opportunities.
A source told the Post that the head of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers had cancelled a visit to the city scheduled for Tuesday because he needed to handle emergencies in his country.
The department met Indonesian recruitment agency Aspataki last week to discuss the implementation of the policy, which scrapped a placement fee earlier levied on helpers seeking work abroad. The workers will only need to pay for their training fees.
The policy, revised twice by the country, requires employers to shoulder the full recruitment cost of up to HK$20,000 (US$2,560) – several thousand dollars more than the present charges of between HK$7,000 and HK$13,000, agencies and helpers’ unions’ figures said.
Hong Kong labour chief to voice concerns over Indonesia’s domestic helper fee rise
Data from the Immigration Department showed there were 338,000 foreign domestic helpers in the city in 2022, with Indonesians accounting for about 140,000 and Filipinos for more than 190,000.
Sun said a small number of foreign domestic helpers were from other countries including India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
The recruitment of Bangladeshi domestic helpers began in 2013 and peaked in 2015, reaching 650 workers. Its consulate’s website said there were around 750 domestic helpers from the country working in the city at present.
The city welcomed its first batch of 1,000 domestic helpers from Cambodia in 2017 as part of a five-year programme to ease the manpower shortage caused by the city’s ageing population.
