‘Limited food, no wages’: domestic workers struggle amid quarantine in Hong Kong
- Some workers say their employers are not paying them or giving them enough to eat during the mandatory coronavirus quarantine, according to rights groups
- With thousands of other workers arriving soon, activists urge the city to provide health advice in multiple languages and set up a complaints channel for Covid-related issues
When Gloria – not her real name – returned to Hong Kong from the Philippines late last month, she had to do a mandatory quarantine imposed by the government to combat the coronavirus pandemic. While her employer put her in a hotel, those 14 days were all but easy.
“When my boss told me about doing the quarantine in a hotel, I asked her who would pay the expenses. She said she would. But then she told me to bring some biscuits and noodles,” says Gloria, who was under lockdown in the Philippines for about two months.
“Of course I could not bring enough food for 14 days. After a few days, she gave me one lunch and nothing else,” the domestic worker says.
Gloria has worked for the same employer for more than four years, but she ended up having to turn to a support group that provided her with meals. “Luckily, there are many people here who are willing to help,” she says.
Other than having limited access to food, Gloria, who is in her 30s, also did not receive her salary during those two weeks. Yet, she decided not to complain to the consulate or the Labour Department out of fear of getting fired.
“I have three children and my husband doesn’t have a job now because of the coronavirus [crisis], so my salary is very important,” Gloria says.
Domestic workers are being placed in a vulnerable situation … Many don’t want to complain because they don’t want to be terminated and some are not aware of their rights
She is among dozens of domestic workers who have recently returned from their home countries – mostly the Philippines and Indonesia – to Hong Kong as travel restrictions are slowly being lifted.