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"I was a stranger and you made me welcome" (Matthew24:34-35)

"I was a stranger and you made me welcome" (Matthew24:34-35). Presented by : Justice and Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese, July 2011. Current Situation of the Foreign Domestic Workers in HK. 270,000 Migrant workers in HK, 98% are women Mainly Pilipino(49%) & Indonesians(51%)

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"I was a stranger and you made me welcome" (Matthew24:34-35)

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  1. "I was a stranger and you made me welcome"(Matthew24:34-35) Presented by : Justice and Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese, July 2011

  2. Current Situation of the Foreign Domestic Workers in HK • 270,000 Migrant workers in HK, 98% are women • Mainly Pilipino(49%) & Indonesians(51%) • Immigration Department’s ‘two-weeks rule” policy • Work at least 16 hours a day • Maids earned HK$3,800 a month in 1998 before the government went on its wage-cutting exercise. • In June 2011, Pay for foreign domestic helpers goes up by HK$160 to HK$3,740. The 4.5% increase is their biggest lift in years, though it does no more than keep pace with inflation. • Additionally, a food allowance was raised by HK$25, or 3.3%, to HK$775 a month.

  3. Current Situation of the Foreign Domestic Workers in HK Domestic workers with non-domestic works: • Foot & Body Massage; • Gardening, Translation; • airport pick-up; • Tutor the children’s homework; • Part-time shop keeper.

  4. Social Discrimination • Campaign against permanent residents right to FDW. • Accumulated more than 3000 supporters in 2 days. • Legislator Regina Ip: 2 years contracts for 2 times renewal • Protest against the Human Rights Lawyers.

  5. Irrational Angers towards domestic Helpers

  6. A Day of Sympathy and Reflection, A Day for Solidarity and Justice Vicky Casia said some employers have changed their attitudes toward their helpers. Leny Galima said her employer was understanding but she experienced hatred on the street. ``Someone shouted `Filipinos are rubbish' at me,'' she said. ``I felt bad and sad.'' Lucy Aquino said she tried to hide the fact she was Filipino when she took her employer's parents to hospital....... (Standard News, 2010-8-30)

  7. No Political & Voting rights! • “Persons not of Chinese nationality who have entered Hong Kong with valid travel documents, have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the HKSAR” shall be declared permanent residents of the city. • But the law not apply to the foreign domestic workers.

  8. Excluded from the SMW • Gi Estrada, Area Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants ''We view these recommendations as unjust, discriminatory and anti-migrant. In effect it allows employers to let FDHs work for 16 hours a day as this is the basis of the board in concluding that they would be paid HK$12,480 a month. This is slave-like to say the least and they are on 24-hour call. But more than that, workers of all nationalities in Hong Kong and elsewhere should be given wages that will provide them and their families with a decent way of living unlike those who adhere to free-market policies who share the opposite view. '' (Standard News, 2009-4-14)

  9. HK Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs Survey (June-July 2009) • Of the 1437 interviewed, only 1.7% works 8 hours a day. • 98.3% works over 8 hours • 47% works 15 – 20 hours. • 3.1% works even more than 20 hours. • The FDWs live and work at the same place. Hence they may be required by their employers to stand by on duty and to work on demand.

  10. Inadequate Food Allowance • 80.5% FDWs interviewed were provided with meals from their employers. • 16.3% were given food allowance, however, amongst them, some gets only $20 food • allowance and 68.4% gets under $300 as food allowance. • The government has increased the food allowance from $300 to $740 starting from 2 September 2009, and $10 increase from August 2010 • But the mechanism for the increase, just like the minimum allowable wage, has not been transparent and is without any public consultation.

  11. Shortage of Wages paid • The survey shows 26.3% FDWs interviewed were paid a wage below $3580, the minimum • allowable wage. Some interviewed were paid as low as $2580 a month. • Although the survey reflects mostly the conditions of Catholic Philippine workers, some surveys on Indonesia and Thai workers have shown that shortage of wages paid is also very common among them.

  12. Today, many domestic workers continue experiencing violations: rape, verbal and physical assault, non-payment of wages, slave-work. In fact, such cases increase year by year.

  13. Migration is at times the lesser evil. • The Church defends the human right to migrate (CCC, 2241), but she does not encourage its exercise. She knows, in fact, that migration has a very high cost, and that it is always the migrant that has to pay. On the other hand, she also recognizes that migration is at times the lesser evil. • The Church does everything she can to assure that the society of arrival considers migrants not as means of production but as persons endowed with the dignity of the children of God with inalienable rights.

  14. Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate) • In his latest encyclical entitled, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), Pope Benedict XVI refers to the mass movement of migrant labour around the world as a fact of modern life to which far too little attention is paid. He issues a warning that forces are at work seeking to treat migrant labour as a simple commodity and as just another production factor. • “This is a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems that it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community,”

  15. Religious Support • Weekly Newspaper: Mubuhay (Complimentary copies attached with the Sunday Examiner) • Publish on Every Sunday; • Political News and the Church development in the Philippines • Special Corner for Migrant Workers • Labor News • Spiritual Reflection in both English & Tagalog

  16. HK Church Involvement A Shelter for the Migrants • The Filipino Catholic Association (FCA) which is located at the Kowloon Rosary Church has the longest history since Apr 1958. • Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL Church) is a Christian organization that originates in the Philippines • Mass Service in Tagalog and in English • Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Services to Filipino Migrants– Bishop John Tong as the Chairperson since 1994

  17. Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Filipinos(and other Asian Migrants and Ethnic Minorities) • Out-Reach Services: Hospital Visits, Prison Visits, Parish Visits. • Networking and Linkages : Philippines Consulate, Indonesian consulate, Columbian Consulate, Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers… • Employer Supportive Service: Promote mutual understanding and harmony between foreign domestic helpers and Hong Kong employers; • Victims Supportive Services • Shelter Service : Accommodations for pre-maturely terminated and completed contract, migrants with health problem and migrants in distress.

  18. Caritas HK • Hotline Service - basic informations on community services • Counseling services – marital, parent-child and employer-employee relationship • Education Programs – orientations, labor laws etc • Training programs – Language, domestic works • Cultural exchange programs - traditional festival celebration • Community education for local peoples

  19. We are together as one! • Joint Declaration against all kind of abuses against Foreign Domestic Workers; • Protest action against Levy, wage cut, exclusion of SMW, placement fees, Two-weeks rule… • Constant Articles and Newsletter on the Situation of FDW; • Financial Support to Shelters and Cultural programs among the migrants • Conducted In-depth research on the migration problems • Response on the Human rights situation of the sending countries. • Public education and advocacy work within the Church.

  20. Say NO to Discrimination • 3000 copies of Booklet on “Population Policy 2003” • Flyers against the discrimination of Domestic Workers, and the exclusion of SMW; • Submission in the LegCo; • Solidarity vigil after the hostage incident; • July 1st Rally, May Day Rally etc.

  21. The more we involved.. • The more we become involved, the more we have realized that there are rampant cases of violation of human rights, sexual harassment / exploitation, denial of justice & freedom and there is an urgent need to act to bring about change in the present scenario.

  22. 33“Do not mistreat foreigners living in your country,34 but treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34

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