‘No blacklisting of FDWs because of debts’

Domestic workers in Central (file photo)

“BLACKLISTING” of foreign domestic helpers owing to debts to financing companies is not true.

“The Immigration Department clarified that they have never accepted nor considered submissions from agencies names of workers for the so-called ‘Blacklist’.

“It became clear that these harassment tactics widely deployed by ill-intentioned companies are threatening vulnerable workers in the name of the Immigration Department and misusing the government’s authority to continuously extort money from the migrants,” a statement from NGO Enrich sent to Hong Kong News said.

The statement came following a meeting by the Domestic Worker Roundtable led by former Legislative Council member Emily Lau with the ImmD to discuss issues foreign domestic workers face during their time in Hong Kong.

Enrich sought clarification from officials regarding  migrant workers’ concerns about being blacklisted at the ImmD if they struggle with debts.

In cases seen by Enrich, migrant domestic workers are often threatened by debt collectors and pressured by finance companies to take out loans with exorbitant interest rates to pay off their placement fees, failure to repay would result in the alleged reporting to the authorities and blacklisted for future potential employments.

“The group together with the Immigration Department agreed to work together to spread the word  and increase awareness among the wider migrant domestic worker community,” the statement added.