Caritas head criticizes new policy for non-resident workers

Paul Pun told the Times that the number of low-income residents under Caritas Macau’s Food Bank program remains stable

Non-residents who leave their employment or whose jobs are terminated now face another setback in the region, as local immigration authorities amend the relevant policies.

Previously, local immigration authorities granted 10-day visas to these employees, but have now shortened their length to eight days. Furthermore, if non-residents have been working in Macau for less than half a year, they will only be able to remain in the territory for two days after their employment is terminated.

Paul Pun, secretary general of Caritas Macau, has criticized the MSAR government for decreasing the number of days given to non-residents once they leave their job.

“It would be problematic for them. They may go back to their hometown. Somehow the government policy intends to not let them look for another job,” he explained.

Pun explained some challenges that these domestic workers may face under the new visas, such as difficulty in finding affordable plane tickets. “If it’s just a short time, the price of the ticket is more expensive. Two days could make big difference.”

Although employers are responsible for purchasing a one-way plane ticket for employees, Pun explained that the employer might refuse to provide additional allowance to compensate employees for costly tickets.

“The anxiety level is high,” he added. “The visa expires in just eight days; they don’t even have time to adjust before going home. This is also difficult. Ten days is [already] not enough.”

Pun believed that the move is probably a crackdown to limit the region’s growing number of domestic workers.

Separately, the Caritas head told the Times that the number of low-income residents under Caritas Macau’s Food Bank program will be more or less the same compared to last year’s figures.

According to the Caritas head, the short-term food assistance program has reached 2,028 families as of December 11, a figure “quite similar” to last year.

Pun noted that in 2015, there were 2,015 families taking part in the program. Those families included 3,714 individuals.

“It’s gradually increasing because of the promotion,” he told the Times. “There is still more [days] to count so we are not sure if there is an increase, [but] probably it’s more or less the same.”

In recent years, Pun noted that some low-paid residents were not comfortable accepting food assistance from the government.

Last year, 1,882 families that took part in this initiative.

The non-government association hosted dialogues amongst these families, encouraging them to participate in the short program.

According to Pun, they had to explain the benefits of the assistance to the families, implying that such residents find it embarrassing to accept food aid.

“[More] people know about the program and second, people [have] accepted the service,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general also emphasized that the number of the program’s users in Coloane has grown, citing that several families have moved from Macau to the Seac Pai Van public housing complex.

As of December 11, 1,369 individuals in Coloane received weekly food packages from Caritas Macau, a 32.3 percent increase compared to 2014.