Family of Filipino domestic worker who died in Shenzhen still looking for closure, three years on

Lorain Asuncion was employed in Hong Kong but fell to her death from a flat in mainland China. Her family is still seeking answers about what happened

Experts and support workers say thousands of domestic workers are illegally taken across the border by employers and sometimes agencies

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Lorain Asuncion from the Philippines died after falling to her death from a building in mainland China in 2017. Lawyers in Hong Kong representing her family are pursuing a claim for compensation. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:00am, 16 Aug 2020Updated: 5:52pm, 21 Aug 2020

In July 2017, Lorain Asuncion’s family in the Philippines received the sort of news that takes a while to sink in. They were told the 28-year-old had fallen to her death from a high-rise apartment building in Shenzhen.

Asuncion was a domestic worker in Hong Kong, but had been taken to the city across the mainland China border by her employers.

Three years on, her family is seeking compensation through the courts in Hong Kong, while still struggling with a lack of answers about what happened before she plunged to her death.

“We talked to the employer only by phone in 2017, and he said it was an accident,” Asuncion’s sister, Jenevieve Javier, recalled. “I wanted to meet him, so he could explain what happened. But he did not want to meet me.”

Asuncion’s absence remains an open wound for the family.

“My parents are always thinking about the incident. They are hoping that the case moves as fast as possible. But we don’t know where the employers are,” Javier said. “We would like to have some answers, so we could have some closure.”

Hong Kong law prohibits employers from requesting or forcing foreign domestic workers – most of whom hail from the Philippines – to work at an address not specified in their employment contracts.