Hong Kong maids push for residency rights

Aug 17, 2011, 9:45 GMT

Hong Kong - Seven out of 10 employers of domestic help in Hong Kong think their maids would stay permanently if allowed to, a survey published Wednesday said.

The survey by the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association came ahead of a series of judiciary reviews, as maids and their families have demanded the right to apply for residency.

But a representative of the maids said the notion that they wanted to stay forever was wrong.

'Most of our members don't want to stay in Hong Kong for life,' said Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong which represents around 7,000 people.

'Their main focus is to work and have good wages and good working conditions and job security. Later, after sending their children to school, they want to go back to their home country and settle down with their family and relatives.'

The current legislation excludes any 'domestic helper who is from outside Hong Kong' from applying for permanent residency.

Three Filipino families are challenging the ordinance, calling it unconstitutional. The first, to begin Monday, involves a Filipino maid who has lived in Hong Kong for 25 years.

If the challenge is successful, around 100,000 of the city's 290,000 foreign domestic helpers could apply for permanent residency, which would entitle them to bring over children and non-working spouses.

Joseph Law, chairman of the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association, said Hong Kong could be landed with a heavy burden.

'Our government does not have enough medical, educational, housing and social welfare resources for domestic helper immigrants and Hong Kong people,' he told a press conference.

Even if the challenge is successful, observers doubt that any real change will be made to the law.

Former city officials Rita Fan and Elsie Leung have talked publicly about the possibility of asking Beijing to intervene to reinterpret the law if the judicial review rules in favour of the maids.