The recent ruling by Hong Kong’s top court that domestic workers are not entitled to permanent residency in the territory, despite their length of stay, is a harsh blow to the thousands who work in what’s already a virtually invisible economy.
There are at least 300,000 domestic workers in Hong Kong who will be affected by the ruling, which brings to an end a controversial two-year court action brought by a Filipino maid who has lived and worked in the Chinese-administered region for over 17 years.
Evangeline Banao Vallejos, supported by rights groups and fellow workers predominantly from the Philippines and Indonesia, argued that her and her fellow workers’ lack of right to permanent residency was unconstitutional. Vallejos’ suit was filed jointly to the Court of Final Appeal with another Filipino domestic helper Daniel Domingo, who had worked in Hong Kong for over 28 years, and who took action after the High Court last year ruled against a 2011 decision that domestic workers were entitled to permanent residency – like other foreign nationals – after seven uninterrupted years.
It is absolutely a shame that the Court of Final Appeal and the Hong Kong government have no regard to human rights when it comes to domestic workers. We believe that there can be no justification for singling out these workers for such treatment simply because they are low-paid immigrants.
Metro Éireann calls on the people and lawmakers of Hong Kong to rethink this decision. The constitution should be changed to guarantee that domestic workers who have helped in building their city are fairly treated, and that includes allowing them the right to permanent residency.
