By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Cheung says holiday camps should be opened up for FDWs if they cannot be given suitable accommodation |
Labour Party legislator Fernando Cheung has called on the government to open holiday
homes to foreign domestic workers if they cannot be given suitable
accommodations while waiting for new employment visas, or are unable to return
home because of travel restrictions.
The
lawmaker made the call during a press conference on Aug 7 organized by the
Asian Migrants Coordinating Body in the wake of two Indonesian domestic workers
testing positive for Covid-19 after spending time in cramped shelters run by employment
agencies.
As
of today, Aug 9, a third Indonesian worker who had been staying in an
agency-run shelter in Tuen Wan also tested positive for the coronavirus
disease.
“The
Labour Department has a duty to go to these dormitories, set guidelines for
them, including basic space requirement per person … and make sure that they
are clean and suitable for transitional accommodation,” Cheung said.
“If
there is a need to vacate some of them, or relocate some of the other migrant
domestic workers to other places so as to decrease the crowding in these
dormitories, then I would call for the government to open up vacation or
holiday camps for such purpose.”
Alternatively,
he said the migrant workers could be offered motel or hotel packages that would
allow them to be housed in “more decent accommodation.”
Cheung
also echoed calls by various migrant organizations to conduct mass testing in
all dormitories where there are FDWs, not just those run by employment
agencies; and for basic protective supplies like masks, be given to them.
Just
hours earlier, the government announced it would provide free Covid-19 tests to
workers living in the agency dormitories, and also give them masks. But it did
not extend the benefit to those staying in agencies run by non-government
organizations and churches, or private boarding houses.
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| Sringatin calls for equality in the campaign to stop the virus spread |
Sringatin,
an Indonesian spokesperson of AMCB, also called on the government to give equal
protection to FDWs in its fight against the pandemic, not just in terms of providing
them with protective gear, but in extending the same financial assistance it
has given to other residents.
She
also called on the government to “stop the discrimination”, saying FDWs are
unfairly seen as carriers of the virus,
so that many are prohibited by their employers from going out on their days off
when “we continue to go to the market and other public places.”
“The
government must admit that there are domestic workers who were infected by the
family they work with,” Sringatin said.
Even
before the third wave of infections hit Hong Kong, 40% of FDWs had already been
denied their rest days, said Sringatin, “and now, the number will rise
significantly.””
While
they welcome the government’s announcement of free masks and testing, she said
the government must also regulate agency dormitories as these are “mostly
crowded, unsafe and unhygienic.”
On
top of these, she said the basic question of where migrant workers in-between
jobs will get the money to pay for temporary accommodations and expensive visa
extensions when they are not allowed to take on jobs while waiting for their
new work visa to be released.
“How
about those domestic helpers who are stranded in Hong Kong and cannot leave
because of (lack of) flight and lockdown? Where will they stay and who will
take care of them?”, she asked.
“We
are vulnerable because of unfair, unequal and discriminatory policies of the
Hong Kong government,” she said.
“We
appeal to Hong Kong people not to ride on the paranoia and stop the
discrimination.:
Cheung
agreed that the government should do more to ensure employers comply with their
contractual obligation to provide their helpers with a weekly time off.
“The
government should make an effort to remind employers that it is unlawful to
deprive FDWs of their day-off,” he said.
Johannie
Tong of the Mission for Migrant Workers also took up the call against
discrimination, saying the government must “stop putting the blame on migrant
workers.”
Instead
of treating migrant workers unfairly, Tong said the government must adopt only
one anti-epidemic policy for everyone in Hong Kong, including migrant workers.
Such
policy should include providing free accommodation for all stranded MDWs, and
quarantine facilities for those returning or arriving in Hong Kong for the
first time; adopting clear guidelines for agency dormitories; and including migrants
in the cash handout.
