OFWwatch Hong Kong: Domestic workers in Hong Kong treated as […]

Domestic workers in Hong Kong treated as "slaves": Amnesty International

Amnesty International condemned the "slavery-like" conditions being faced by Indonesian women working in Hong Kong as domestic helpers, accusing authorities that their inaction on this matter is "inexcusable."
As we all know, Hong Kong employs nearly 300,000 domestic helpers which primarily come from countries in the Southeast Asian region such as the Philippines and Indonesia.
The organization's report called "Exploited for Profit, Failed by Governments" comes just shortly after a Hong Kong couple was sent to jail after a series of attacks on their Indonesian domestic helper. The helper was burned with a hot iron and was beaten using a bike chain.
Amnesty has observed that Indonesians are exploited by recruitment agencies by having their helpers turn over their legal documents and charging them with outrageous fees, along with false promises of a hearty salary and a good working condition.
"From the moment the women are tricked into signing up for work in Hong Kong, they are trapped in a cycle of exploitation with cases that amount to modern-day slavery," said Norma Kang Muico, Asia-Pacific migrants' rights researcher at Amnesty.
The report accuses Indonesia and Hong Kong of "inexcusable" inaction.
"The authorities may point to a raft of national laws that supposedly protect these women but such laws are rarely enforced," Muico added.
The report's findings were based on interviews with 97 Indonesian migrant domestic workers and were supported by a poll responded by almost 1,000 women by the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union.
You may view the full report on the document below.

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