Should we celebrate Labour Day?

It’s ironic that today, on Labour Day, when we are meant to be celebrating the economic and social achievements of workers, I have to tell you about the terrible abuse of a migrant worker right here in Hong Kong. You may find the following disturbing, but please bear in mind that this is not a typical case, and that most employers treat their domestic helpers well.

The system in Hong Kong is set up in such a way that some helpers find themselves trapped in their employer’s homes, unable to escape and get help.

We are helping an Indonesian domestic worker who was employed by a couple with a young child. The wife went to work but the husband stayed at home and looked after the child. He began physically abusing their domestic worker, on one occasion boxing her ears so hard that it began to bleed.  He then dragged her so that she could bleed into the sink.

A word of comfort and a loving embrace
make a world of difference

He insisted she may only go to the toilet twice a day, and had to use a plastic bag in which to relieve herself.  The domestic worker was not given enough food and became so malnourished that she collapsed and had to be taken to a hospital by the employer.

Migrant workers are trapped by high 'agency fees' of about seven months’ salary which must be paid to the employment agency in advance.  Workers are offered a loan, at a 47% interest rate.  These women are afraid to leave their jobs because they cannot get a refund, so even when they are abused they dare not leave, because the debt still hangs over their heads.

We are assisting this abused Indonesian woman through a legal aid lawyer. After she returned to Indonesia, her case appeared in an Indonesian newspaper, and she managed to get some monetary compensation from her employment insurance. The outcome of her court case in Hong Kong is likely to be released at the end of this year.

I hope that one day all workers in Hong Kong will be able to truly celebrate Labour Day and their economic and social achievements. Please continue to pray that the Hong Kong government will provide resources to enable organisations like Christian Action to help domestic helpers in distress.