Maids lose court fight to be HK residents
Source: Agencies |
March 26, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HONG Kong's top court yesterday ruled against two Filipino domestic helpers seeking permanent residency, the final decision in a case affecting tens of thousands of foreign maids in the southern Chinese financial hub.
In a unanimous ruling, the Court of Final Appeal sided with the city government's position that tight restrictions on domestic helpers mean they don't have the same status as other foreign residents, who can apply to settle permanently after seven years.
In the ruling, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma wrote that foreign domestic helpers "are told from the outset that admission is not for the purposes of settlement and that dependents cannot be brought to reside in Hong Kong."
The decision means Evangeline Vallejos and Daniel Domingo cannot apply for permanent residence even though Vallejos has worked in Hong Kong since 1986 and Domingo since 1985. Neither appeared in court.
Hong Kong is home to nearly 300,000 maids from Southeast Asian countries. The vast majority are from Indonesia and the Philippines. Some argue that barring maids from residency amounts to ethnic discrimination. But other groups raised fears the case would result in maids' family members arriving in Hong Kong, straining the city's services.
In rejecting the maids' application, the court also said it did not need to grant a controversial government request for Beijing to reinterpret residency rights outlined in the city's Basic Law.
Such a reinterpretation could have taken away the right to residency from children born in the city to Chinese mainland parents.
That's made Hong Kong a popular place for mainlanders to give birth but it's also added to growing anger from residents upset about a growing influx of mainland pregnant women crossing the border to give births, straining local hospitals.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said the government "welcomes" yesterday's decision and is studying the judgment while it considers further options regarding the children, known as "double negatives" because neither parent is from Hong Kong.
"In the meantime, the government will continue to adopt robust administrative measures" to enforce a policy of not allowing any mainlanders to give birth in private hospitals, Lai told reporters.
In a unanimous ruling, the Court of Final Appeal sided with the city government's position that tight restrictions on domestic helpers mean they don't have the same status as other foreign residents, who can apply to settle permanently after seven years.
In the ruling, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma wrote that foreign domestic helpers "are told from the outset that admission is not for the purposes of settlement and that dependents cannot be brought to reside in Hong Kong."
The decision means Evangeline Vallejos and Daniel Domingo cannot apply for permanent residence even though Vallejos has worked in Hong Kong since 1986 and Domingo since 1985. Neither appeared in court.
Hong Kong is home to nearly 300,000 maids from Southeast Asian countries. The vast majority are from Indonesia and the Philippines. Some argue that barring maids from residency amounts to ethnic discrimination. But other groups raised fears the case would result in maids' family members arriving in Hong Kong, straining the city's services.
In rejecting the maids' application, the court also said it did not need to grant a controversial government request for Beijing to reinterpret residency rights outlined in the city's Basic Law.
Such a reinterpretation could have taken away the right to residency from children born in the city to Chinese mainland parents.
That's made Hong Kong a popular place for mainlanders to give birth but it's also added to growing anger from residents upset about a growing influx of mainland pregnant women crossing the border to give births, straining local hospitals.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said the government "welcomes" yesterday's decision and is studying the judgment while it considers further options regarding the children, known as "double negatives" because neither parent is from Hong Kong.
"In the meantime, the government will continue to adopt robust administrative measures" to enforce a policy of not allowing any mainlanders to give birth in private hospitals, Lai told reporters.
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