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Job-hopping’ insertion in CoP will spur forced labor, MDW supporters say

Posted on 13 May 2023 No comments
The speakers say 'job hopping' claim will force MDWs to continue working even if abusd

Hong Kong’s plan to revise the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies (CoP) to insert a section on “combatting job-hopping” by migrant domestic workers has come under fire from the city’s nearly 400,000 MDWs as well as their supporters in academe, legal profession and concern groups.

Pushing the proposal that practically “criminalizes” MDWs’ termination of their contract if they are abused or exploited by their employers will make the plight of migrant workers worse, said speakers at a press conference on May 11. As it is, foreign helpers are already considered as second-class citizens and excluded from the protection and benefits that other workers in the city enjoy.

One of the speakers, prominent human rights lawyer Mark Daly, said it was like kicking someone who was already down.

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The briefing was held by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB)  in coordination with Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW), the Migrant Sociolinguistic Research Group (MSRG) of City University of Hong Kong, and human rights lawyer Mark Daly.

The conference was called just three days before the government ends this Sunday, May 14, its public consultation on the Hong Kong Labour Department’s proposal to curtail alleged “job-hopping” by MDWs who terminate their employment contract to seek higher pay and better working conditions.

“We have repeatedly expressed our worries about the current description of ‘job-hopping’ of migrant domestic workers as a trend. We believe that it is overstretched and unfounded,” MFMW said in a position paper it submitted to the consultation and read out by Johanie Tong, its community relations manager, to the media representatives.

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The submission reiterated a letter sent by the Mission’s general manager Cynthia Abdon-Tellez’s letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on March 23 that pointed out a spike in contract terminations since allegations of job hopping surfaced.

Data published in the 2022 MFMW Service Report showed 31% of migrant workers in Hong Kong have had their contracts terminated mostly by their employers. But the report said “the phenomenon was not about job change but job loss of MDWs due to the exodus of employers and other financial difficulties”.

Most of those who got terminated had finished their two-year contracts at the minimum or had served multiple contracts with their employers, said Abdon-Tellez, who urged the Labour Department “to examine the more concrete and worrisome problem of job loss”.

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Secondly, MFMW said it was very much worried that the current approach to defining “job hopping” infringes on the rights of the employee or employer to end the contract under the Employment Ordinance.

The Mission cited point (f) of the preliminary proposal for revising the CoP, which states: “If there is evidence showing that an FDH job-hops, his-her employment visa application will be refused. The relevant application record will be one of the factors to be considered by the government when processing his/her future employment visa application.”

The MFMW said it is worried that the government’s anti-job-hopping measures may actually cause forced labour, as defined by the International Labour Organisation Forced Labour Convention 1930 (No. 29), which suggests that if MDWs work for fear that they won’t be issued visa in future, then that is forced labor. Yet, the Hong Kong Bill of Rights states that “No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour,” MFMW said.

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Among the speakers at the press conference was Dr. Lydia Catedral, assistant professor  at City U, who expressed the MSRG’s opposition to the LD’s proposed insertion of “job-hopping” in the CoP.      

“Rather than professionalizing the industry, we anticipate that this proposal will increase cases of extreme and prolonged abuse against migrant domestic workers, and undermine Hong Kong’s image as Asia’s WorldCity,” said Catedral, summarising the MSRG’s evidence that:

1) The “job-hopping” proposal violates the workers’ right to “free choice of employment” and treats domestic work as slavery the basic human rights of workers to change their employers as it makes job change illegal during their two-year contract.

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2) The “job-hopping” policy will prolong cases of abuse against MDWs because it increases the power of employment agencies (EAs) to force workers to stay in abusive situations. It takes away one of the few options workers have to escape such abuse. In the past, EAs had forced workers to return to their abusive employers to finish their contracts.

The MSRG said the “job-hopping” proposal delegates to EAs responsibility for ensuring MDWs finish the two-year contract, giving these agencies incentive to continue forcing workers to endure physical and sexual abuse. It also makes contract termination an even more inaccessible escape for abused workers due to the threat of permanently losing their ability to work in Hong Kong to provide for their families.

Finally, the MSRG said the proposal’s exception for MDWs who can produce “evidence” of “harsh treatment or exploitation” is insufficient to counter the abuse that will be prolonged if the policy is implemented, as this “exception” does not account for unreported cases.

3) The “job-hopping” proposal makes MDWs scapegoats for the difficulties experienced by employers during Covid-19, even though these workers were among those most negatively impacted by the pandemic.

Catedral, who said that if employers of MDWs just like her had experienced great financial and familial difficulties during the pandemic, so had the domestic workers, yet the MDWs had been excluded from the government consumption vouchers. More so, they had been blamed as carriers of COVID and used as scapegoats for the economic difficulties that local families suffered during the contagion.

Yuan Liang, a student at City U and service provider for the Mission, said MDWs will be exposed to more danger if the job-hopping policy pushes through, as infringes on their rights under the Employment Ordinance. With the inclusion of the job-hopping policy in the CoP, it is only the employer who will have the right to terminate the contract, thus giving way to forced labor.

Daly said this group of people’s human rights and legal situation are already vulnerable the moment they arrive in Hong Kong. He said there are already a number of studies that show MDWs are at forced labor and exploitation, “so their situation is not very good.”

Daly said the United Nations has criticised Hong Kong for the MDWs’ present situation where they are vulnerable, clearly set apart from other workers in Hong Kong. “The government says that these workers are treated the same as other workers, they’re not. They’re being considered second-class,” he said.

“They are already vulnerable to exploitation, so, this proposal will make them even more vulnerable, like kicking somebody when they are already down,” the lawyer said.

He said that had been instances in the past where Hong Kong laws were not favourable to MDWs, as in a few Right of Abode cases that Daly helped take up to Hong Kong’s highest court, the Court of Final Appeal. 

Daly said there are a number of laws that impinge on this group of workers, but those who could help remedy the situation are just making it worse now.

Asked by The SUN what his response would be if the job-hopping policy is included in the CoP, he said he would work out a course of action in coordination with groups at the meeting, such as mounting legal challenges as the ILO. 

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‘Linggo ng Pasasalamat’ para sa mga pamilyang may FDWs

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Gusto ng Labour na magpasalamat sa kanilang FDWs ang mga pamilyang kanilang pinagsisilbihan

Ngayong Mayo 15 ay uumpisahan ng Labour Department ng Hong Kong ang “Thankful Week” o Linggo ng Pasasalamat para sa mga pamilya na may foreign domestic worker.

Ayon sa gobyerno, ito ay parte ng kampanyang Happy Hong Kong, at isasagawa para palaganapin ang respeto sa pagitan ng employer at FDW, at nang maging mas gumanda pa ang kanilang samahan.

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“Isang malaking parte sa buhay ng mga pamilya sa Hong Kong ang ginagampanan ng mga FDH, sabi ng isang tagapagsalita ng Labour.

Hindi lang trabahong bahay ang kanilang ginagawa, nag-aalaga din sila ng mga may edad at mga anak ng kanilang employer, dagdag pa nito.

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Dahil magkasama silang naninirahan sa iisang bubong, kailangan daw na may pag-aalala at  pagkakaintindihan na namamagitan sa kanila para maging masaya at maayos ang kanilang pagsasama.

Sa mga gustong magpatunay, kailangang magkasabay na gumawa ng isang maiksing video recording ang isang FDW at kanyang employer, at sabihin doon kung bakit maayos ang kanilang pagsasama, at ano ang magandang katangian ng bawat isa sa kanila.

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Dapat ay mula 20 hanggang 30 segundo lang ang haba ng video, at kailangang maiparating ito sa Labour Department mula May 15 hanggang May 28.

Mamimigay ang LD ng hanggang 12,000 na piraso ng tiket para sa Ocean Park sa 3,000 kabahayan na sasali sa kampanyang ito.

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Sa mga gustong sumali, bumisita lang sa event webpage na ito: www.fdh.labour.gov.hk/thankfulweek  para sa karagdagang impormasyon, o tumawag sa numero bilang 3582 8976.

Pahabol ng LD, ang Linggo ng Pasasalamat ay isang magandang pagkakataon para ipagdiwang ang malaking kontribusyon ng mga FDHs sa pamilya na kanilang pinagsisilbihan.

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Magbibigay-daan din ito para mas maintindihan ng mga FDH at employer ang kanya-kanyang kultura at pananaw sa buhay, para mas lalo pang tumatag ang kanilang samahan.

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Immigration, pinabilis ang pag-uusig sa mga illegal worker

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Napabilis ang paglilitis sa mga kasong ilegal na pagtatrabaho. (File Photo)

Apat na overstayer na nahuli sa isang raid ng Immigration Department sa Admiralty noong May 8  ang hinatulan ng iba't ibang parusa, na ang pinakamataas ay 16 na buwang pagkabilanggo, sa salang pagtatrabaho nang illegal.

Ang mga nahatulan sa Shatin Courts ay pawang Indonesian – tatlong babae at isang lalaki – pero ang babala ay para sa lahat: na walang lumabag sa patakaran laban sa pagtatrabaho ng illegal ang makakaiwas sa parusa. At ang pagsampa ng kaso  ay mas mabilis.

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Ayon sa Immigration Ordinance, ang isang tao na nakatakdang palayasin sa Hong Kong  o isang overstayer ay bawal magtrabaho, may suweldo man o wala, o magnegosyo sa loob ng Hong Kong.

Ang parusa sa mga lalabag dito ay multa na aabot sa $50,000 at pagkakakulong nang hanggang tatlong taon.

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Sinabi ng Immigration na di hamak na mas mabigat pa ng parusa sa mga nagpapatrabaho ng ilegal. Ayon sa Ordinance, ang pinakamabigat na  parusa sa mga employer ng mga ilegal na manggagawa ay multa ng hanggang $500,000 at kulong nang hanggang 10 taon.

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Dagdag na paalala ng Immigration, itinakda na ng High Court na ang mga negosyanteng mahulihan ng illegal na trabahador sa kanilang kumpanya ay tiyak na makukulong, ayon pa sa Immigration.

Ang mga nahatulan ay sinampahan ng kaso sa Shatin Courts noong May 10, o dalawang araw lang matapos mahuli, at agad sinentensyahan.

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Sa apat na Indonesian, isang babae at isang lalaki ang umamin na tumira sa Hong Kong nang higit sa panahong ipinagkaloob sa kanila, o overstaying, at hinatulan ng dalawa at sampung araw na pagkakakulong.

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Ang natirang dalawang babae na umamin naman na nagtrabaho nang illegal habang may deportation order at pag-overstay, at hinatulan ng 15 buwan at 16 na buwang pagkabilanggo. 

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Pathfinders, HKU call for better linkages to protect migrants’ children

Posted on 12 May 2023 No comments

 

Panel speakers Dr Lucy Jordan, Xyza Bacani and Catherine Gurtin

The importance of developing new strategies to ensure all children affected by migration are protected was the focus of a panel discussion yesterday, May 11, to launch Children at the Heart of Migration, a new report published by PathFinders in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong (HKU).

The speakers included Dr. Lucy Jordan, associate professor at HKU’s Department of Social Work and Social Administration; award-winning photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, who following her mother’s example, became a migrant domestic herself; and PathFinders' CEO Catherine Gurtin.

The talk was held as Hong Kong marked the 50th  year since migrant domestic workers were allowed into the city.

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Today, there are around 340,000 MDWs in Hong Kong and the government expects the number to rise to 600,000 by 2047 because of the need to care for the city’s rapidly ageing population.

More than 90% of the MDWs are women of childbearing age, and many are mothers who left their own children behind in hopes of providing them with a better future.

The discussion focused on how government and other stakeholders could work together to come up with policies that adequately reflect the potential impact of migration on children - whether born in the country of destination, or left behind.


 
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This becomes more urgent as Hong Kong looks overseas to recruit more women to work as caregivers for the city’s elderly residents.

Gurtin said that over the last 15 years that PathFinders has been in existence, it has seen many MDWs falling prey to love scams, sexual abuse, and unplanned pregnancies while living and working in Hong Kong.

With the population of MDWs set to almost double over the next 20 years, we need to act now to prevent an emerging and potential crisis for migrant children, Gurtin said.

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PathFinders wants to use its voice in raising awareness and advocate for stronger protections for the children left behind, she added.

Dr Jordan also expressed concern for the children of migrant parents. She said research has shown that there is a potential “crisis of care” across Southeast Asia as an increasing number of parents migrate overseas for work, leaving their children behind. 

But she said very little is known about the long-term costs and benefits of migration for these children.

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Through the report she said HKU and PathFinders hope to start a conversation that makes a case for developing effective policies that will help children and family members affected by migration, both in the sending and receiving destinations.

Sharing her personal experiences, Bacani said, "I was a child left-behind by my migrant mother when I was eight. I grew up without her so I know how challenging and painful it was to be away from my own mother. Migration has touched our family’s lives in so many ways.

She added that her story was not unique as it was a story shared by millions of children left behind by a migrant parent.

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The panel called on stakeholders to jointly put in place several measures to help cushion the blow on children of migrant workers.

These include providing comprehensive training to migrant workers in their home countries, which should focus on crisis prevention and migration goals. In addition, migrating mothers should be made to undergo extra training on child guardianship, family togetherness and tips on how to look after their children while abroad.

Once they get to their work sites, migrant mothers should also get support from their fellow MDWs and non-government organizations in terms of access to information on general and reproductive health, as well as child safety and positive parenting.

Community networks should also be strengthened in the destination countries so migrant parents will get help in preventing crisis situations and to engage them in talks on child development.

The panel also advocated conducting further research on how migration could impact child protection and health development in both origin and destination places, in particular, those in the Philippines and Indonesia on one side and Hong Kong on the other.

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Halina at mag-aral ng taekwondo, anyaya ng UPTO

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Nanumpa ang mga bagong miyembro ng UPTO-HK sa harap ni Consul General Raly Tejada

Balik-aksyon muli ang United Philippine Taekwondo Organization – Hong Kong, pagkatapos ng tatlong taon na pamamahinga dahil sa pandemic.

Ayon sa kanilang founder na si Mercy Permales na isa mga kilalang manlalaro ng taekwondo sa hanay ng mga Pilipino sa Hong Kong, balik na sa kanilang pagsasanay, pero bago ito ay humirang muna sila ng mga bagong opisyal ng kanilang grupo, na agad namang nanumpa.

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Naganap ang kanilang panunumpa sa Konsulado noong Mayo 7 sa harap ni Consul General Raly Tejada, na nagsabing bilib siya sa grupo dahil alam niyang mahirap na laro ang taekwondo. Kailangan daw ay physically at mentally fit ang isang tao para makasali dito.

Kailangan din daw na malakas ang iyong self-control para hindi magamit ang nalalaman para makapanakit. Biro pa niya, “Baka mamaya ay may nakaaway kayo at bigla niyo na lang banatan, ha?”, dahilan para magtawanan ang lahat.

 
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Sabi ni Congen, “proud” daw siya sa grupo dahil sa kanilang pagpasok sa sport na napakahirap. Bukod pa dito ay para din daw silang mga “ambassador” na nagbibigay ng magandang imahe para sa bansa.

“Please continue what you are doing now, representing our country, ang using your skills para sa ikabubuti ng lahat,” dagdag pa niya.

Ang mga founder na pawang blackbelter na sina Padua, Jacinto at Permales

Alinsunod sa layon ng UPTO na palaganapin ang taekwondo sa hanay ng mga migranteng Pilipino, lalo na ang pagtuturo ng self-defense sa mga kababaihan, ay tumatanggap na silang muli ng mga gustong sumali sa kanilang grupo.

“Bukas ang grupo sa mga nais matuto, mapa bata man o may edad, basta walang major operation o acute asthma ay welcome po,” sabi ni Permales.

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“Don’t worry po at hindi naman tayo ng-eensayo dito para sumali sa Olympics. Our priority is the safety of our members. Pare-pareho po tayong nangangamuhan dito sa Hong Kong kaya safety first,” dagdag pa niya.

Ang UPTO, na itinatag sa Hong Kong halos 11 taon na ang nakakaraan, ay ang kauna-unahang grupo ng taekwondo na ang mga miyembro ay mga Pilipino. Pero ang nagtatag dito at nananatiling taga-suporta nila ay isang ekspertong Intsik na kilala sa pangalang Grandmaster Tze Hong Lai.

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Si Lai ay isa sa mga founding member ng grupong CTA, o China Hong Kong National Taekwondo Alliance, kung saan kabilang sa mga miyembro ang UPTO at dahil dito ay nakakasali sa mga pagsasanay katulad ng advanced poomsae course, referee course at sparring referee course.

Narito ang listahan ng kanilang mga hinalal na opisyal para sa taong 2023-2024, at nanumpa sa harap ni Consul General Raly Tejada:

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Founding Members:

Mercy D. Permales - 3rd Dan WTF

Federico C. Jacinto - 3rd Dan WTF

Ednalyn Padua  - 3rd Dan WTF

 

Head Instructress:

Wilma M. Colobong - 2nd WTF

Assistant Head Instructress:

Ruth Delos Santos - 2nd WTF

 

Instructress:

Lorena S. Jaro - 3rd Dan WTF

Ruth Delos Santos - 2nd Dan WTF

Madeline B. Bristol - 2nd Dan WTF

Marilyn O. Anorico - 1st Dan WTF

Sofia M. Talite - 1st Dan WTF

 

Secretary:

Mylene L. Adtoon - Red Black Belt

Assistant Secretary:

Bernadeth S. Rivas - Red Black Belt

 

Treasurer:

Evelyn E. Beduya - 1st Dan WTF

 

Business Manager:

Letecia D. Cayudong - 1St Dan WTF

 

Demonstration Team Leaders:

Lorena S. Jaro - 3rd Dan WTF

Ruth Delos Santos - 2nd Dan WTF

Sofia M. Talite  -1st Dan WTF

Jocelyn C. Austria - 1st Dan WTF

 

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