MFMW extends project for employers

Tellez

A non-government organization helping migrant domestic workers in the city is launching a program seeking to educate employers about their duties and responsibilities.

Cynthia Abdon Tellez, Mission for Migrant Workers general manger, said the project aims at addressing the apparent gap in the information being received by employers about employing a foreign domestic worker.

“It takes two to tango. Kung ang sinasabi natin na migrants need help, baka tingin din natin sa employers they might be getting the wrong information or incomplete information,” Abdon-Tellez said in an interview.

One of the complaints of foreign domestic workers was that while numerous seminars and workshops were intended to educate them about their rights and responsibilities, there seemed to be few, if at all, education campaigns for employers.

Abdon Tellez said the project will be launched through the MFMW’s Facebook page.

“There are times when employers would rather do the meeting here to settle their differences with their worker,” she said.

They also found that some employers were not aware that they were violating labor laws or that agency-related debts incurred by their domestic workers were illegal.

“Malaking tulong ito kasi ang mga employers sasabihin mo na naku hindi sila nagbayad, pero ‘yun pala hindi nila alam na bawal iyon. Minsan naman mayroon kang nami-meet na employer na sasabihin nila, na ‘mas malaki pa ang binayad ng hinire ko sa agency kaysa sa binayaran ko’. So mismo sila may concern sila so magandang magtulungan,” she said.

Eventually, they will also have a hotline that employers could call to ask questions and seek help when needed.

“Dapat mayroong dalawang tao diyan at hindi ‘yung kung sino na lang ang sasagot. Sa Facebook, pwede din naming sabihin na ‘from this date onwards, if you wish to ask for information’ or if there are complicated cases, pwede namin silang i-direct sa respective government agencies.

“Thinking long-term, if you really want to see a caring, inclusive Hong Kong na may harmonious [relationship between employers and migrant workers] at sa tingin namin pwede iyon kaya mage-extend kami [ng services],” she said.

MFMW will also start a series of posts also on its Facebook page about feel-good stories between employers and migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.

“Hindi naman lahat ay may problema. May positive stories with employers and bakit hindi namin i-popularize iyon?” Abdon-Tellez said.

Meanwhile, Bethune House, a shelter for distressed migrant domestic workers run by MFMW, continues to appeal to various stakeholders for funds for their operation expenses.

Edwina Antonio, Bethune House executive director, said the shelter needs to raise funds after one of their major donors ended their support this year.

She said they became busy with a number of cases this year such as dog-biting incidents of domestic workers, and various labor cases and so they were not able to find a new sponsor.

Antonio cited the case of an Indonesian domestic worker who was made to take care of some 200 dogs and was bitten three times. Another case of a dog-biting incident involved a Filipino domestic worker.

“Mayroon din kaming kaso na parang may 19 aquariums at sa bawat aquarium, may 25 na isda at ang bawat isda may pangalan at kapag nalimutan mo ang pangalan o kapag namatay, may fine ka. May mga spiders na mayroon ding pangalan at kapag nawala may bawas din sa sweldo mo. Natataon pa ang mga among ganyan sa mga Indonesian,” she said.

While the stories sounded preposterous, Antonio said the migrant workers produced proofs such as photos of the fish tanks, and the dogs.

Another case involved a Filipina who was made to strip in the living room by her female employer after the domestic worker was accused of theft. The same employer also once watched while the Filipina was taking a bath.

“Dinuduraan siya, minumura siya, at ang cellphone niya, itinago. Dahil hindi niya matawagan ang pamilya niya, humiram siya sa isang Filipina, pinagbintangan siyang nagnakaw ng amo niya, pinakulong siya, tapos binail out din matapos sabihin nung isang Filipina na hiniram nga sa kanya yung cellphone,” Antonio said.

An Indonesian migrant worker, who is also staying in the shelter, had suffered vaginal hernia and severe dermatitis after she was made to scrub and clean by hands the floors of her employer’s house for 12 years.

“Two o three hours siyang naka-squat kasi ayaw siyang pagamitin ng mop at iba’t ibang chemicals ang pinapagamit sa kanya. Nung tinanong namin kung bakit hindi siya nag-reklamo, sabi niya tiniis niya kasi may utang siya at may pinagaaral siya sa university,” Antonio said.

MFMW, she added, also helped a number of Indonesian migrant workers who were charged with criminal cases after the Indonesian government updated their database, leading to changes to the personal information of these workers in their passports.

She said that previously, passports of Indonesian migrant workers were processed by employment agencies there and some details of these workers did not match the Indonesian government’s database.

“Nakipag-usap kami sa konsulado ng Indonesia, nag-consult kami sa lawyer, so these are the cases that we have been busy with,” said Antonio.

The Indonesian Consulate has said that they were extending help to Indonesians who were facing court cases owing to the passport data correction.

Suara reported in May that the Consulate has been providing assistance to these migrant workers by accompanying them, paying for their bail, and other administrative costs relating to the cases.

“You may criticize us, but if you say we  do not do anything to help them, [that is not true],” said Legal Consul Sri Kuncoro of the Indonesian Consulate.

He added that the Consulate has also given guidance, and even a written statement about the Indonesian government’s passport data correction to the duty lawyers assigned to the cases of Indonesian migrant workers.