HK gov't to appeal ruling on maids

HONG KONG – Despite the court ruling that foreign domestic helpers may apply for residency rights, the government said it would not process nor approve their applications for right of abode.

Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said the Hong Kong government will seek a reversal of the ruling that the Immigration Ordinance’s provision excluding foreign maids from the category of ordinary residents is “inconsistent” with the Basic Law, the city’s mini constitution.

“The Court of First Instance ruling involves a law point of great constitutional and public importance, and the government has decided to appeal expeditiously and seek to reverse the court’s ruling,” Lee said.

He added that the Immigration Department will withhold the processing and approval of applications for verification of eligibility for a permanent identity card submitted by foreign domestic helpers until final ruling on the constitutionality of the relevant provision of the Immigration Ordinance.

The government’s application for a temporary suspension of the ruling will be heard on Oct. 26.

“Meanwhile, the government will not process or approve the right of abode applications lodged by foreign domestic helpers,” Lee said.

The security chief, however, said the government is unlikely to change its existing policies for the entry and employment of foreign maids.

In case foreign domestic helpers win their legal battle up to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal, workers’ groups feared that the government would give them three two-year employment contracts to limit their stay to only six years.

Reacting to Hong Kong residents’ fears that allowing foreign maids to apply for residency status would open the floodgates to thousands of resident-helpers, Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) and United Filipinos in Hong Kong spokesperson Eman Villanueva said not all migrant helpers would apply for right of abode.

“There will be no flooding of migrant workers applying for permanent residency, or families of foreign domestic workers applying for permanent residency. There are so many foreign domestic workers here who have stayed for more than seven years but not too many are actually applying whether they know that they will be eligible or not,” Villanueva said.

Immigration Department statistics showed that since 2003, only around 200 foreign domestic helpers have applied for right of abode, all of which have been rejected.

The permanent residency applications of non-Chinese professionals, on the other hand, totaled 8,000 last year, almost 90 percent of which were approved.

The Court of First Instance on Friday ruled that Evangeline Vallejos, a Filipina who has been working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong since 1986, should be allowed to apply for residency rights on the basis of the Basic Law.

The Basic Law states that permanent residents include “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.”

As of December last year, there were 285,681 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Of this figure, around 117,000 have been continuously working in the former British colony for more than seven years.

Palace no comment

Malacañang said yesterday it would not comment yet on the possible implications of a Hong Kong court decision favoring a Filipina domestic helper in her petition for residency status.

The ruling raised concerns that it may be counter-productive as Hong Kong authorities might be forced to put in place stronger restrictions on foreign maids.

“From what I understand, the ruling is not yet final. It’s going to be the subject of an appeal under the justice system of Hong Kong and we would like to defer comment. Let us wait for the decision to become final,” Valte said over radio dzRB.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed disappointment over the ruling.

A pro-government political party has warned there would be an influx of 500,000 people – including children and spouses of foreign maids – that would cost HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) in social welfare spending.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong forecast unemployment could jump from the current 3.5 percent to 10 percent.

End of discrimination

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III welcomed the landmark decision handed down by a Hong Kong court allowing foreign domestic helpers to obtain permanent residency status.

Pimentel expressed optimism that the decision would remove the stigma of discrimination in the Chinese territory.

He noted that domestic helpers, including more than 100,000 Filipinos, have long been considered as second-class foreign workers in Hong Kong because they were placed in a category that prevents them from obtaining residency status regardless of how long they have been working there.

“Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong have long suffered discrimination in Hong Kong. It’s about time our domestic helpers, who are the engines of most Hong Kong households and a vital economic fuel to the Philippine economy, are treated justly and fairly and given their due,” Pimentel said.

The senator explained that once they obtain permanent residency status in Hong Kong, Filipino domestic helpers would no longer be forced to return to their homeland upon termination of their employment contracts.

As permanent residents, Filipino domestic helpers would be able stay in Hong Kong indefinitely without fear of deportation.

Pimentel said they would also have the right to vote and “will be a political force to reckon with in future political exercises in Hong Kong.”

“With the latest ruling, the muted voices of thousands of Filipino domestic helpers would finally be heard,” he said. – With Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy