HK: Foreign maids win landmark residency case

Eman Villanueva, vice chairman of the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Union, talks to the press outside the High Court following the ruling in the case brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, yesterday

A Hong Kong court ruled yesterday that a law banning foreign maids from permanent residency in the city is unconstitutional, in a landmark case that could pave the way for a flood of applications.
The legal action brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a Filipino domestic helper who has lived in Hong Kong since 1986, has cast a spotlight on the financial hub’s treatment of its army of 292,000 domestic workers.
The High Court ruled that immigration laws barring domestic workers - mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia - from settling permanently violated Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
“The mere maintenance of link with her country of origin does not mean that [a maid] is not ordinarily resident in Hong Kong,” Judge Johnson Lam wrote in a 78-page judgement.
Under Hong Kong law, foreigners can apply to settle in the city after seven years of uninterrupted residency, but maids were specifically excluded.
Vallejos challenged the restriction, saying it was unconstitutional and discriminatory, but the government argued in court it was “appropriate” and that it is empowered to define who is eligible for residency.
“I am disappointed, but we are fully prepared for any court ruling,” Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang said in a brief reaction, adding that the immigration authorities are studying the decision.
The Hong Kong government plans to appeal against the court ruling, Ambrose Lee, the secretary for security, told reporters yesterday.
Vallejos’ lawyer Mark Daly lauded the High Court’s decision as “a good win for the rule of law” and that Vallejos “thanks God and all the people who have helped her, including her employer and her lawyers.”
“She is busy working so she has no time to be here today [yesterday],” he added.
Critics of the legal action have said it will open the floodgates to new immigrants in an already overcrowded and expensive city.
A pro-government political party has warned the decision could see an influx of as many as 500,000 people - including children and spouses of foreign maids - that would cost billions of dollars in social welfare spending.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong forecast unemployment could jump from the current 3.5 percent to 10 percent.
Immigration authorities have declined to say how many maids would be eligible to apply for permanent residency.
Outside the High Court, supporters of the legal action duelled with groups opposing maids’ residency rights, in an angry protest involving several dozen people.
“Hong Kong is for Hong Kong people, please go back,” the critics chanted.
“We are sad, angry and disappointed. A huge number of the domestic workers are going to migrate to the city and it will strain our resources,” said Jeff Lam, spokesman for Hong Kong Social Concern Group.
Another court hearing will be held on October 26 on whether Vallejos can now be declared a permanent resident.

Benchmark ruling

The governments of the Philippines and Indonesia applauded the decision as a welcome recognition of the contribution of their citizens, millions of whom work abroad.
“It is a step forward in recognising the rights of migrants,” Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on overseas workers, said in a statement.
“Overseas Filipino workers have contributed to the economies of their host countries and the decision recognises their contributions.”
Indonesia hailed the “benchmark” Hong Kong court ruling. “We have always considered Hong Kong one of the best places for our workers,” Gusti Made Arka, Indonesia’s labour ministry director-general of workers abroad, told AFP.
“We hope that this decision is seen as a benchmark and that other countries do the same.”
Yesterday’s ruling could have implications beyond Hong Kong for other Asian economies that rely on cheap imported labour for cooking, cleaning and care of the young and elderly.
Philippine activist group Migrante International, which represents Filipinos working overseas, also praised the ruling, saying it helped boost the status of domestic helpers who were treated as inferiors abroad.
“The ruling gives them equality. Domestic helpers are not really seen as equals in countries where they work,” Garry Martinez, chairman of Migrante, told AFP.
“The important thing is that their rights are being recognised after so many years of working.”
But Martinez said Hong Kong authorities would likely react to the ruling by tightening their laws to make it harder for Filipinos to get permanent residency there, as other developed economies had done.