Caritas sees growing number of struggling migrant workers in town

Secretary-General of Caritas Macau Paul Pun has found it increasingly challenging to secure enough supplies for poverty-stricken migrant workers in Macau, as they have been constantly increasing in number.
On average, the number of non-resident workers who sought help at the local charity organization increased by around 100 per week in December. “The number has kept climbing, with no signs of abatement,” Pun told the Times yesterday.
During the Christmas period, Caritas Macau heightened its outreach efforts in order to throw a lifeline to this specific group — most of whom have been dismissed from their jobs and stranded in Macau as there are no flights available.
With the assistance of local schools, Pun organized two outreach events on December 20 and 27 at the institutions, each running for 8 hours a day. The foreign workers were given masks and essential food items such as rice, milk and eggs for adults, and formula for infants.
He also hosted a luncheon at a local Chinese restaurant for approximately 300 impoverished and jobless migrant workers on Boxing Day.
“We want more people in Macau to know about the hardship faced by these migrant workers during the pandemic and give a helping hand to these folks,” Pun stressed, calling on locals to donate food and cash to help them weather the storm.
Since September, Caritas Macau has been reaching out to the then blue card-holders who were let go by hotels, restaurants and other companies.
As of now, the non-government organization (NGO) has had upwards of 1,000 non-resident workers registered on its list, hailing from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Myanmar.
However, Pun disclosed that the NGO has maintained a low profile about its outreach activities for migrant workers, as, he explained, this might lead to misinterpretation by the public that the NGO favours migrant workers over locals.
For now, there has been almost no mention of such an endeavor on Caritas Macau’s website and social media account.
“We have entirely banked on word-of-mouth to disseminate the details of outreach activities amidst the migrant worker community,” he added.
Pun also told the Times that around 10 jobless and physically-ill migrant workers came to the NGO in search of financial assistance as they are in debt to local hospitals from previous medical treatments.
Migrant workers are not granted the same medical entitlements as the locals. A medical treatment can incur them thousands of patacas, or even more. “However, they are not allowed to leave the city until they pay off the debt. These types of migrant workers are extremely under the pump, as they have no money in their pockets to pay the debt,” Pun explained.
Given the ongoing pandemic, the official is calling on the government to introduce some approaches to provide help, including financial, living and medical assistance for sacked and stranded migrant workers who are struggling.
Official data shows that by the end of November, the city recorded a total of 180,962 non-resident workers.
Since January, Macau has lost 12,536 blue card holders who were mostly working in hotels, restaurants and similar establishments.
On December 21, the Philippine Consulate in Macau deployed a repatriation flight to bring home a total of 197 stranded Filipinos in Macau, around 40 of whom had reached out to Caritas Macau for support. The recent flight was the consulate’s 12th repatriation flight. Staff Reporter