Domestic helpers and their supporters raise placard with words “Stop The Violance” to support the 23-year-old Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih during a protest in Hong Kong, on Jan. 19, 2014
The 2016 Global Slavery Index has listed Hong Kong as one of the worst places in the world at taking action against modern slavery, along with North Korea and Iran. But Hong Kong was the only one of the three described as “wealthy and stable.”
According to the index’s regional analysis, around 30.4 million of the world’s estimated 45.8 million slaves are in the Asia-Pacific. Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan had high reports of abuse and exploitation. In Hong Kong, foreign domestic workers usually abide by the “live-in rule” (which means that they must live at their boss’ homes), increasing the risk of exploitation.
The analysis shows that Hong Kong has “inadequate” response to combating issues like human trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage.
Although Macau was excluded from the study, Eni Lestari, representative of Peduli Indonesian Migrant Workers Concern Group told the Times last week that Macau has neither standard employment contracts nor a standard minimum wage, which often leads to the possibility of abusing migrant domestic workers.
Lestari said domestic helpers are receiving a “low salary with long working hours.”
“Hong Kong labor law is much better than Macau’s,” she claimed. “Some workers are not given holidays and are forced to stay in these conditions even if they don’t want to, because there is no policy.”
The representative also revealed that the group had recently received a report from a compatriot who was beaten and scolded by the employer. Lestari admitted they have received several reports of physical violence that were not reported to authorities.
“There’s no bleeding, no bruises. How can you report such incidents to the police station?” she asked. “There is no witness as well.”
Lestari also said that a number of migrant workers work for up to 15 hours, especially when employees are live-in. She argued there might not be any evidence for domestic helpers to report such abuse, as these workers are not given a “time card.”
“How can we report it? We don’t have any time cards. When you start and stop working […] how can they [the authorities] know if you’re working overtime already?” she said.
Besides domestic work, slavery cases are often linked with human trafficking. According to the 2015 annual report of the U.S. State Department, Trafficking in Persons (TIP), the MSAR remains a “source territory for sex trafficking and forced labor.”
Macau remained on tier two, the second-lowest ranking in the department’s report. However, the study revealed that many trafficking victims fall prey to false advertisements for jobs, including in casinos in Macau, and would eventually be “forced or coerced” into prostitution upon arrival.
The report also commented that local authorities do not comply with the minimum standards for the abolition of trafficking.
It was suggested that the city should “increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict sex and labor traffickers.” It suggested that Macau continually improve and implement proactive victim identification methods.
Moreover, the Global Slavery Index report said that extortionate recruitment fees, confinement to their workplaces, excessive unpaid overtime, withholding of wages and confiscation of identity documents were listed as indicators of forced labor for domestic helpers.
Hong Kong has rejected the recent index’s regional analysis, questioning the methodology of the investigation. The territory’s Security Bureau spokesman said the approach to the study had resulted in an “incomplete and inaccurate picture.” Staff reporter
fewer cases of forced labor
Caritas Macau claimed in a previous MDT report that forced labor cases are less likely to occur in Macau, as domestic helpers are not obliged to live-in with their employers, unlike in Hong Kong. The Times recently interviewed a Filipino domestic helper who testified that her employer requires her to work for 12 hours every day in two separate locations, namely the apartments of her employer and her employer’s daughter. Although she said that she does not complain out of fear that the employer will fire her, she admitted her working condition is “tiring.”
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