Hong Kong Shows How Exploitation Isn’t a Rule
August 20, 2009
Hera Diani
Hong Kong domestic workers are vocal for their rights, often demonstrating against wage pressures and conditions. (AFP Photo)
Hong Kong Shows How Exploitation Isn’t a Rule
Hong Kong is often the most desired overseas destination for Indonesian workers.
Ana Acil, a former migrant worker from Blitar in East Java, explains why: the contract is clear, the pay is good and it’s hard for illegal workers to get in.
“I’ve worked in other countries before and I found that the situation is better in Hong Kong for migrant workers. There are organizations to support us and the law protects us,” she said.
Siti Juwariyah, director of PT Asa Jaya, a recruitment agency in Blitar, said workers there ask for jobs in Hong Kong more than any other destination, in light of horror stories about abused Indonesian maids in Malaysia and the Middle East.
“For an agency like us, it’s more convenient to deal with agents in Hong Kong as the [labor] laws and regulations are clear,” she said.
Albert Bonasahat, the national project coordinator on forced labor and trafficking at the International Labor Organization in Jakarta, said Hong Kong has taken foreign domestic helpers into account in its labor laws.
“The laws stipulate the rights and obligations of migrant workers who work as domestic helpers,” he said. “The Hong Kong government aims to protect local workers from cheap overseas competition and to protect foreign workers from exploitation. Good law enforcement has also reduced illegal migration.”
This doesn’t mean that Hong Kong is free of worker abuse, but Bonasahat said there were mechanisms to settle problems through the courts and the Labor Department. He said employers and foreign workers had been jailed for violating Hong Kong’s labor codes.
There are currently about 150,000 Indonesian domestic helpers working in Hong Kong, according to the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI).
Veteran Indonesian journalist Dewi Anggraeni wrote in her 2006 book, “Dreamseekers, Indonesian Women as Domestic Workers in Asia,” that regulations in Hong Kong specify that employers are required to have a standard contract with their foreign domestic helpers.
Domestic helpers are legally registered as foreign labor, have a monthly minimum wage of $3,270 Hong Kong dollars ($420) and are entitled to holidays and medical insurance.
“Disputes between the domestic helpers and their employers can be settled through the Labor Department, the Labor Tribunal and the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board,” Dewi wrote in the book.
She wrote that employers must also provide their employees accommodation with sufficient privacy.
“The regulations, meanwhile, also protect employers and the Hong Kong labor market. Domestic helpers are not allowed to take part-time or unauthorized jobs,” according to the book. “In cases where their contracts end prematurely, they will only be allowed to stay in Hong Kong for the rest of their limit of stay, or two weeks, whichever is shorter, unless stated otherwise by the immigration director.”
Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong also have the luxury of turning to the offices of local nongovernmental organizations, which not only provide legal advice, but also moral and emotional support and serve as a social centers for foreign workers.
The most prominent of these is the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, which has links to other worker unions in Southeast Asia and access to media networks.
The Philippines has the largest number of migrant workers in Hong Kong, and Filipino organizations such as the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers and Bethune House — a shelter run by Filipino Catholic nuns — also help Indonesian migrant workers.
Technically, given the labor laws and the presence of local watchdogs, nothing should go wrong in Hong Kong, yet it still does. There are occasional cases of foreign workers suffering physical abuse or being paid less than the minimum wage.
Indonesian labor activist Anis Hidayah, who is the director of Migrant Care, has made a career out of lobbying the central government to increase protection for all overseas migrant workers and to amend a 2004 law on the placement and protection of Indonesians working overseas.
“The law emphasizes the business aspect of migrant workers, stipulating recruitment agencies, recruitment and placement,” Anis said. “But it barely mentions migrant workers’ rights and protection.”
She has urged the central government to ratify the 1990 United Nations Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families, which requires signatories to legislate laws and regulations in line with international standards for overseas workers, recruitment agencies and related institutions.
August 20, 2009
Hera Diani
Hong Kong domestic workers are vocal for their rights, often demonstrating against wage pressures and conditions. (AFP Photo)
Hong Kong Shows How Exploitation Isn’t a Rule
Hong Kong is often the most desired overseas destination for Indonesian workers.
Ana Acil, a former migrant worker from Blitar in East Java, explains why: the contract is clear, the pay is good and it’s hard for illegal workers to get in.
“I’ve worked in other countries before and I found that the situation is better in Hong Kong for migrant workers. There are organizations to support us and the law protects us,” she said.
Siti Juwariyah, director of PT Asa Jaya, a recruitment agency in Blitar, said workers there ask for jobs in Hong Kong more than any other destination, in light of horror stories about abused Indonesian maids in Malaysia and the Middle East.
“For an agency like us, it’s more convenient to deal with agents in Hong Kong as the [labor] laws and regulations are clear,” she said.
Albert Bonasahat, the national project coordinator on forced labor and trafficking at the International Labor Organization in Jakarta, said Hong Kong has taken foreign domestic helpers into account in its labor laws.
“The laws stipulate the rights and obligations of migrant workers who work as domestic helpers,” he said. “The Hong Kong government aims to protect local workers from cheap overseas competition and to protect foreign workers from exploitation. Good law enforcement has also reduced illegal migration.”
This doesn’t mean that Hong Kong is free of worker abuse, but Bonasahat said there were mechanisms to settle problems through the courts and the Labor Department. He said employers and foreign workers had been jailed for violating Hong Kong’s labor codes.
There are currently about 150,000 Indonesian domestic helpers working in Hong Kong, according to the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI).
Veteran Indonesian journalist Dewi Anggraeni wrote in her 2006 book, “Dreamseekers, Indonesian Women as Domestic Workers in Asia,” that regulations in Hong Kong specify that employers are required to have a standard contract with their foreign domestic helpers.
Domestic helpers are legally registered as foreign labor, have a monthly minimum wage of $3,270 Hong Kong dollars ($420) and are entitled to holidays and medical insurance.
“Disputes between the domestic helpers and their employers can be settled through the Labor Department, the Labor Tribunal and the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board,” Dewi wrote in the book.
She wrote that employers must also provide their employees accommodation with sufficient privacy.
“The regulations, meanwhile, also protect employers and the Hong Kong labor market. Domestic helpers are not allowed to take part-time or unauthorized jobs,” according to the book. “In cases where their contracts end prematurely, they will only be allowed to stay in Hong Kong for the rest of their limit of stay, or two weeks, whichever is shorter, unless stated otherwise by the immigration director.”
Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong also have the luxury of turning to the offices of local nongovernmental organizations, which not only provide legal advice, but also moral and emotional support and serve as a social centers for foreign workers.
The most prominent of these is the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, which has links to other worker unions in Southeast Asia and access to media networks.
The Philippines has the largest number of migrant workers in Hong Kong, and Filipino organizations such as the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers and Bethune House — a shelter run by Filipino Catholic nuns — also help Indonesian migrant workers.
Technically, given the labor laws and the presence of local watchdogs, nothing should go wrong in Hong Kong, yet it still does. There are occasional cases of foreign workers suffering physical abuse or being paid less than the minimum wage.
Indonesian labor activist Anis Hidayah, who is the director of Migrant Care, has made a career out of lobbying the central government to increase protection for all overseas migrant workers and to amend a 2004 law on the placement and protection of Indonesians working overseas.
“The law emphasizes the business aspect of migrant workers, stipulating recruitment agencies, recruitment and placement,” Anis said. “But it barely mentions migrant workers’ rights and protection.”
She has urged the central government to ratify the 1990 United Nations Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families, which requires signatories to legislate laws and regulations in line with international standards for overseas workers, recruitment agencies and related institutions.
