More FDW apply to stay in HK

More foreign domestic workers apply for right of abode in HK
(The Philippine Star) Updated January 22, 2012 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The number of foreign domestic helpers applying for right of abode in Hong Kong increased from an average of just one a month before the landmark permanent residency ruling last September to more than 200 the following month, The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

In September last year, the Hong Kong High Court ruled that the exclusion of foreign domestic workers from a rule that allows foreigners to apply for the right to settle in the city after seven years of uninterrupted residency was unconstitutional.

The court ruled in favor of Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a Filipino domestic helper who has lived in Hong Kong for 25 years.

While the number is just a tiny fraction of the reported 125,000 helpers who have lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years, it is a significant rise that has caused some alarm among the local populace.

In November, a total of 334 applications were filed. Starry Lee Wai-king, vice-chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said she was alarmed by the “astonishing” increase in applications.

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