Tens of thousands of Hong Kong domestic workers in forced labor: Study
A new study says tens of thousands of the over 300,000 foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong are victims of “forced labor.”
The study was conducted by the Justice Center, a non-profit rights group, and was released on Tuesday, showing that one in six—about 50,000—migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong are in forced labor.
According to the study, the majority of domestic workers in Hong Kong worked an average of 70 hours per week, while more than one third of them were denied a 24-hour rest period required under the law.
About 14 percent of those caught in forced labor had been trafficked into the city, the report added.
The report, based on interviews with over 1,000 workers, defined the forced labor as a form of employment for which the worker had been recruited out of free will, or which the worker was not completing freely or could not walk away from.
Most of Hong Kong’s domestic workers come from the Philippines or Indonesia.
“Hong Kong must come clean and acknowledge these problems. It can no longer afford to sweep them under the carpet,” Piya Muqit, the executive director of Justice Center said.
She added that the region’s current regulations actually threatened to leave workers even more vulnerable to exploitation, while making it difficult for victims to seek “assistance and justice.”
The group called on the government in Hong Kong to review legislation, improve the living and working conditions of its domestic workers, and penalize work agencies engaged in overcharging, which have also played a role in trapping workers in their jobs as a result of debt.
The study was released months after a report by the United Nations Committee Against Torture called on Hong Kong to reform laws to prevent forced labor and human trafficking.
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