by The SUN team
 |
| Mission volunteer confers with clients |
More
than $3 million in illegal placement fees has been collected from employment
agencies by non-government organization, Mission for Migrant Workers, on behalf
of foreign domestic workers last year.
This
was revealed in the Service Report 2016 released by the Mission yesterday, Apr.
5.
According to the report,
the number of FDWs who approached the NGO for help in recovering fees illegally
collected from them by the agencies rose by 36% compared to the same period
last year. Of the number of claims pursued, 85% led to the recovery of the
illicit fees, amounting to $3.07 million.
The dramatic rise in the
number of claims could be directly correlated to the relatively high recovery
rate, or greater awareness of the problem among migrant workers.
Only 4% paid legal fee
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| Statistics on agency-related complaints |
Yet, the issue over the
high placement fees remains. Of the 5,039 FDWs who sought help from the Mission
last year, only 4% said they paid the legal fee, which under Hong Kong law,
should not be more than $431, or 10% of their first monthly salary.
Nearly half, or 45%,
said they paid between $5,000 to $10,000; 17% paid between $10,001 to $15,000;
and an alarming 21% were charged more than $15,000.
“It should be noted that
recruitment fee collection relates closely to fraudulent loans as FDWs are
deceived to take out loans to cover the fees resulting also to debt bondage,”
said a press statement issued by the Mission.
Another agency
malpractice pointed out in the report was the fraudulent recruitment for
inexistent jobs abroad, such as the one carried out by Mike’s Secretarial
Services/Emry’s Employment Agency, which face refund claims from migrant
workers in Hong Kong and Macau amounting to about $3 million.
Apart from the
persistent problem with illegal fee collection and other agency malpractice,
the FDWs remained beset with major concerns regarding their working and living
conditions.
9 out of 10 work long
hours
 |
| Graph on work-related complaints |
As in years past, an
overwhelming number, or 90%, complained of excessively long working hours. Of
these, 38% reported working for more than 16 hours per day, while 62% worked
from between 11 to 16 hours daily.
The other complaints
were on contract violations. About 43% of the workers said they were not given
private accommodation; about 29% said they were made to work before taking
their day off; while 26% complained about not being given enough food.
More than half, or 56%,
sought the Mission’s help over labour-related problems, while 44% had their
contracts prematurely terminated, leaving them with no means to support
themselves while their complaints were bring processed. A significant increase,
at 17%, was also recorded in the number of workers complaining of fraud and
illegal recruitment.
The Mission has, for
more than 30 years, provided emergency, legal, and psycho-social assistance to
FDWs in distress, and also promotes social advocacy in support of the more than
300,000 migrant workers in Hong Kong. The NGO also administers the Bethune
House Migrant Women’s Refuge, which provides temporary shelter for FDWs in
need.
