HONG KONG (SE): As an increasing number of foreign domestic workers who stay in agency-arranged boarding houses were confirmed infected by the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the overcrowded conditions of the dormitories became a matter of concern. Social worker of the Caritas Asian Migrant Workers Social Service Project, Man Si-i, urged the government to properly monitor the condition of the facilities, while Sister Corazon Demetillo, director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Filipinos, said government-run shelters should be provided for the long-term.
An Indonesian domestic worker who stayed in boarding houses in North Point, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay was confirmed infected on August 4. Two days later, another Indonesian worker who lived in a dormitory in Sheung Wan became another confirmed case.
A Filipino domestic worker, Belynda, shared that she had lived in a 300 square foot boarding house with around 20 others.
Speaking at a press conference organised by the Caritas Asian Migrant Workers Social Service Project on August 9, she said residents whom she did not know kept coming and going, and that ventilation was poor and they had to share one toilet. Some workers also shared meals to save money.
Belynda worried that the virus could be spread inside but she could not afford to move elsewhere.
Man, said the living conditions of the boarding houses are less than satisfactory and that the government should properly monitor them and limit the number of residents inside.
She told the Sunday Examiner that another alternative during the pandemic would be offer government subsidies for certain hotels so that they could rent out rooms to foreign domestic workers at a low cost. “But this is a only short-term measure, regulations monitoring the conditions inside the boarding houses should be made in the long run,” she said.
Even before Covid-19 cases were found in the dormitories, Sister Demetillo had already expressed concerns about the accommodation problem of the large number of terminated workers in Hong Kong during the pandemic (Sunday Examiner, July 19).
“If their employer will not provide a safe place for them, they are forced to stay in poor, full-packed cheaper boarding houses or flats that are affordable. This environment poses high risk for them and for their future employers,” she said.
“I again appeal to the employers to provide a safe place for your worker while waiting for their visas. Your compassion, understanding and concern for their health will also be for the benefit of your family with whom she will serve,” she continued.
She said that while many migrant workers appreciate the Immigration Department’s initiative in allowing newly-hired workers to wait in Hong Kong while their visas are processed instead of returning to their countries of origin, it would be even better for newly-hired workers to stay at their employer’s home while waiting for the visa as a temporary measure.
Sister Demetillo stressed that foreign domestic workers are assets to Hong Kong and should be appreciated and valued. So she called on the government to provide decent shelters for foreign domestic workers instead of relying on non-government organisations to provide the service in the long term. She said that even before the pandemic, the shelters run by the centre as well as other religious groups were full year round.
The sister added that residents in the shelters run by the centre are now encouraged to stay inside unless it is really necessary to go out to prevent infection. Interviews with potential employers are done online. Marketing is allowed three times a week only. Earlier preventive measures, such as reducing the admission of residents by half and social distancing, are still being implemented.
In response to the new cases found in agency-arranged boarding facilities, the Hong Kong government announced mass testing in the dormitories on August 6. Shek Pui-yin of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions, told the RTHK on August 7 that she welcomed the move but warned that it would not prevent the virus from spreading in such overcrowded places.
The Immigrations Department, on the other hand, announced that it would speed up the processing of visas by strengthening its manpower and online services.
According to a report on Now.com on August 7, the department aims to process a visa within two weeks, far less than the two month it used to take, unless the applicant has a bad record.
From April to July, the number of foreign domestic workers applying to extend their stay in Hong Kong increased from an average of 600 to nearly 3,000 per month.
Early this year, the Immigration Department gave flexible consideration to workers who had finished their contracts but were unable to return to their place of origin due to international travel restrictions, extending their period of stay to one month as visitors.
