One evening in 2019, she lastly mustered the braveness to flee her employer’s house, with nothing however her cellphone and the garments on her again.
No hike in Indonesian home helper charges in Hong Kong, diplomat guarantees
No hike in Indonesian home helper charges in Hong Kong, diplomat guarantees
Gita remained in Hong Kong for nearly 4 years extra, throughout which she relied on assist from NGOs, charities and shelters.
At first, she didn’t know the place to get assist. Then native charity Branches of Hope helped her as she pursued her claims towards the employer, a course of which dragged on and led to disappointment as no conclusion was reached.
A lot time had handed, she had no proof of her accidents and the case stalled over conflicting claims by Gita and her employer. The employer moved to a brand new deal with and was now not capable of be contacted.
Final summer season, Gita returned to Sri Lanka.
“I’m full of remorse and disappointment,” she informed the Submit. “The reminiscence is so painful for me.”
Though Sri Lankans make up solely a tiny fraction of international home staff in Hong Kong, NGOs say they’ve been in search of help with rising frequency in recent times.
Not like the Indonesians and Filipinos who made up many of the metropolis’s international helpers, they stated, Sri Lankans lacked a powerful native assist community and a full consular mission.
For the previous two years, Sri Lankans have made up a few third of the shoppers in Branches of Hope’s “Cease Trafficking of Folks” programme.
Govt director Alexander Pforte stated a lot of them skilled “important labour rights violations”, akin to harmful working situations and being compelled to work in unrelated industries.
Some males have been made to work at building websites and girls have been trafficked into prostitution. These caught working illegally confronted jail time and repatriation.
Bangladeshi home helpers educated in Hong Kong methods prepared to maneuver to metropolis
Bangladeshi home helpers educated in Hong Kong methods prepared to maneuver to metropolis
In accordance with the newest Immigration Division information, Hong Kong was house to about 356,000 international home helpers as of the tip of final yr, with 1,126 Sri Lankans making up lower than one per cent of the whole. Nearly 200,000 Filipinos and near 148,000 Indonesians have been residing within the metropolis.
Though Sri Lankans had been coming to Hong Kong to work for a number of years, Pforte stated the unstable scenario of their house nation in recent times had pushed extra to hunt jobs abroad.
In accordance with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Labour and International Growth, the variety of residents who left to work overseas rose from about 250,000 a yr to greater than 311,000 in 2022, when the nation declared chapter and was gripped in anti-government protests and political turmoil.
Though Sri Lanka has an honorary consulate in Hong Kong, its residents shouldn’t have the benefit of full illustration by officers from their nation.
Pforte stated their small numbers meant Sri Lankans lacked group self-help teams and confronted language difficulties to find the providers they wanted in an emergency.
All of this made them extra weak to abuse and exploitation, he stated.
He urged the Hong Kong authorities to commit extra assets to tackling the issues Sri Lankans confronted within the metropolis.
Hong Kong migrant housing is a ‘social time bomb’. Singapore, Macau have solutions
Hong Kong migrant housing is a ‘social time bomb’. Singapore, Macau have solutions
International home helper Mary* stated she discovered in regards to the lack of consular assist whereas present process coaching in Sri Lanka earlier than arriving in Hong Kong in 2016.
“I used to be informed there could be nobody to assist me if I wanted it,” she stated.
For six years, she was made to work lengthy hours, on holidays, not given annual depart and was underpaid, however she stayed together with her employer as a result of she wanted the cash and didn’t know who to show to for assist.
In 2022, one other Sri Lankan pointed her to Assist for Home Employees, an NGO, which helped her take her case to the Labour Division the place she was awarded HK$23,000 (US$2,940) for unpaid entitlements.
Home staff in Hong Kong are entitled to a month-to-month minimal wage of HK$4,870 and a meals allowance of HK$1,236 per 30 days which Mary stated she by no means obtained.
Rachel Li, Assist for Home Employee’s head of case administration and analysis, stated the charity had additionally been seeing extra Sri Lankan shoppers in recent times.
Rights teams urge Hong Kong to lift wages for home helpers by 27 per cent
Rights teams urge Hong Kong to lift wages for home helpers by 27 per cent
She stated accessible data and translation providers supplied in Sinhala and Tamil – the 2 fundamental languages of Sri Lanka – have been missing, which meant many have been left unaware of their rights together with tips on how to search authorized redress.
The federal government had brochures in Sinhala, however Li stated the formal language used was arduous for a lot of Sri Lankans to know.
“It’s an enormous concern,” she stated.
Responding to queries from the Submit, the Labour Division stated: “The federal government is dedicated to upholding and safeguarding the rights and advantages of international home helpers working in Hong Kong, together with these from Sri Lanka.”
Other than its 24-hour hotline for home helpers, it stated its informational publications have been supplied in Sinhala, and the division held common briefings to inform helpers about their rights.
The division additionally welcomed Sri Lankan international home helpers “to share with us their strategies on the publicity materials”.
*Names modified at interviewees’ request
