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| Indonesian domestic workers say the no-fee policy has failed to benefit them (FILE) |
Ask for more and we will consider hiring foreign domestic helpers elsewhere.
This
seemed to be the message of Secretary for Labour Chris Sun when asked for his reaction
to the reported plan of Indonesia to pass on to employers all fees incurred in
hiring its FDWs.
Sun said
Hong Kong employers of Indonesian helpers should not be asked to pay more.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE! |
He also
said the SAR government has repeatedly told Indonesian authorities not to let
any changes in its domestic workers policy burden local employers or reduce the Indonesian helpers’ employment opportunities
in Hong Kong.
Sun said
he would meet with the Indonesian consul general to Hong Kong to hopefully
resolve the matter.
“We hope
that the Indonesian side can find a proper solution,” he said.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
At the
same time, he said Hong Kong has been actively looking for new source countries
of FDWs, and will soon meet with officials of Cambodia and Bangladesh in this
regard.
However,
this is not the first time Hong Kong has tapped the two Southeast Asian
countries to fill its growing demand for domestic workers, especially
caregivers. But its previous attempts were not so successful as the workers’ religious
practices served as hindrance.
According
to an Indonesian recruiters delegation that visited Hong Kong recently, the
plan is to enforce a no-placement fee policy towards it migrant workers, and
pass on all the recruitment costs to employers, including training and medical
examination fees.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The new
regulation is bound to affect nearly half of all employers in Hong Kong, as 41%
of all of the city’s 338,000 domestic helpers are from Indonesia.
Indonesian
domestic workers are themselves not impressed with the plan to step up the implementation
of the zero-placement fee policy. Despite the scheme being announced
by their government in 2020, it has failed to provide them relief from the
steep fees charged them by agents.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALY |
A group organized by JBM, a network of Indonesian migrant workers, is set to stage a protest outside the Indonesian consulate this Sunday to denounce the failure of their government to protect them from having to pay illegal fees to agents.
“The
zero agency fee rule is ideal on paper, but is impractical in reality, said a
statement from the JBM.
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Currently, Indonesian migrant
workers are still charged between
$12,000 to $20,000 in recruitment fees, despite the new rule being passed over
the pandemic, said the group.
“If the IMWs (Indonesian migrant worker) experience layoffs, they can be charged a new fee of $4,000-$6,000,” said JBM.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
The group also pointed
out that although the Philippines has long touted a no-placement fee policy for
its workers in Hong Kong, they are still charged by agents between $5,000 to
$8,000 before they can leave the country.
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| PADALA NA! |
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