By The SUN
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| AMCB protesters outside Labour Department in Sheung Wan |
Migrant workers have called on the Hong Kong government to
stop what they called its discriminatory policies and treatment of foreign
domestic workers and address their working and living conditions with urgency.
The foreign workers, under the umbrella of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, marched on Wednesday to the Labour Department, Immigration Department and Central Government Offices to hand in their petition.
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The protest was held in commemoration of International Migrant Workers Day.
“In (the) time of pandemic, the working and living conditions of FDWs are worsening: long working hours and lack of rest, more work, lack of proper food; improper accommodation, lack of protective materials such as mask and sanitizer, denial of rest days, stigmatization as coronavirus spreader, termination and deportation and many more,” the AMCB said in its petition.
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The workers said they have become an integral part of Hong Kong development and as such, they deserve better treatment and respect.
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| There were protesters also outside the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai |
They listed four key demands in their petition:
1) Stop accusing FDWs as job hoppers and allow them to change employers freely without forcing them to leave Hong Kong. The AMCB said that because of the false accusation of job hopping, hundreds of FDWs have been sent home, with little hope of working in Hong Kong again.The group said, “Isn’t this is a real case of discrimination, stigmatization and unjust punishment against FDWs?”
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2) Regulate working and resting hours of foreign domestic workers. Before the pandemic, many FDWs were already working very long hours, from 12 to 16 hours a day. This has become worse during the coronavirus outbreak.
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| Outside CGO, the workers demanded protection and help from govt |
3) Respect and uphold the rights of FDWs to have rest days.A survey conducted by the AMCB in 2020 showed many FDWs were denied rest days during the pandemic. Some were now allowed to take a day off for months while others saw their rest days become irregular. The group demands a continuous 11-hour rest period each day, plus meal breaks, for FDWs.
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4) Include FDWs in the government’s Covid-19 response. AMCB says foreign domestic workers, like everyone in Hong Kong, are also affected by the pandemic and thus need protection and assistance from the government. Specifically, they want the government to withdraw its advisory that FDWs could be convinced to remain at home during their days off. The group also demanded a stop to mandatory testing of all foreign domestic workers which they say leads to more discrimination and stigmatization of FDWs.
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