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| Women workers march to Immigration offices (photo by Aaron Ceradoy) |
Dozens of protesters marked International Women’s Day today,
Mar. 8, by marching to the HK Immigration offices in Wanchai to protest
policies they claim keep migrant workers working like slaves in the city.
The protesters said these policies included the ban on their
alleged “job-hopping”, the mandatory live-in arrangement, and the two-week rule
that mandates migrant workers to leave Hong Kong
within two weeks after they lost their jobs.
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| Highlighting some of their concerns (Photo by Aaron Ceradoy) |
"We too are women workers with rights and yet, many HK
policies bind us to conditions that practically make us slaves,” said a
statement issued by the protest organizers, Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB-IMA HK).
The group said the limitations on their stay have led to
abuses, some of them extreme, as in the case of Indonesian domestic worker
Erwiana Sulistyaningsih.
"We are women workers bound by to slave treatment set
and perpetuated by policies of Hong Kong on
domestic workers to purposely keep our work cheap and undervalued, and our
rights curtailed,” said AMCB spokesperson Sringatin.
Such exploitation, she said, capitalizes on the prevailing
poverty and unemployment in the workers’ home countries that forced them to
leave home and endure harsh living and working conditions.
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| Sunday's protest was against Phil govt policies (photo from Gabriela HK) |
On Sunday, militant protesters led by Gabriela Hong Kong assailed
what they called the anti-women and anti-poor policies of Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte.
The protesters said women should now arise and speak out,
since Duterte has cast aspersion on their dignity, and has used them to lure
tourists into the country.
They cited in particular his “joke” about soldiers being
allowed to rape up to three women each, or to shoot women members of the
National People’s Army in their genitals to render them inutile.
The protesters also condemned Duterte’s move to amend the
Constitution so he could allegedly perpetuate himself in power, and his new
taxation scheme that has jacked up prices of prime commodities.
