Pinoy domestic helpers lose residency bid in HK


(Updated 7:05 p.m.) Thousands of foreign domestic helpers, mostly from the Philippines, on Monday lost their bid for permanent residency in Hong Kong.
 
The development came after the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, in a unanimous decision, denied the petition of two Filipino domestic helpers seeking permanent residency in Hong Kong, a report on the South China Morning Post said.
 
The report said this means that the two Filipino domestic helpers—Evangeline Banao Vallejos and Daniel Domingo, will not be allowed to apply to settle permanently in Hong Kong even after seven years of living there.

In Manila, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs vowed to ensure protection and promote the welfare of thousands of Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong following the ruling.

“We have always respected the judicial process in Hong Kong and will continue to do so,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told a press briefing.

“The Philippine Consulate, through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, shall continue to look for opportunities to protect and promote the welfare of the Filipino migrant workers,” he added.
 
In September 2011, a lower court ruled that Vallejos had the right to seek permanent residency in Hong Kong. The HK government, however, won an appeal in March 2012.
 
A previous Reuters report said that under Hong Kong's constitution, foreigners are entitled to permanent residency — which brings the rights to vote, claim welfare and other services — if they have lived there for an uninterrupted seven years.
 
Immigration law, however, denies that right to foreigners who work as home helpers, most of whom are from the Philippines and Indonesia.

'Highly restrictive'

A separate report on Hong Kong's The Standard said the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal ruled on Monday that the nature of the residence of foreign domestic helpers was "highly restrictive" since the helpers have to return to their countries of origin once their contracts end.
 
It also quoted the judges as saying that the helpers were made to understand at the start that their purpose in going to Hong Kong was not for residency.
 
"The foreign domestic helper is obliged to return to the country of origin at the end of the contract and is told from the outset that admission is not for the purposes of settlement and that [dependents] cannot be brought to reside in Hong Kong," it quoted the Court of Final Appeal as saying in its ruling.
 
The report on the South China Morning Post quoted Mark Daly, lawyer of the two domestic helpers, as saying they are "very disappointed" and that the ruling was "not a good reflection of the values we should be teaching youngsters and people in our society."
 
But he was also quoted as saying that although they do not agree with the court's decision, they respect it.
 
According to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, there are almost 175,000 Filipinos residing and working in Hong Kong as of December 2011. — with Kimberly Jane Tan and Michaela del Callar/RSJ/KBK, GMA News

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