HK to launch inquiry into exploitation of foreign maids

JAKARTA (Agencies): Hong Kong's Immigration Department is to investigate reports of widespread under-payment of Indonesian domestic helpers, news reports said on Monday.

Asian Migrant Center executive director Rex Varona said Indonesian helpers would testify before immigration officials to identify unscrupulous employers and recruitment agencies.

The Hong Kong Standard quoted Varona as saying 90 percent of the 31,800 Indonesian helpers were denied their proper salary and statutory days off, and that some of them actually received less than 2,000 Hong Kong dollars a month.

The minimum pay for foreign maids is fixed by law at 3,670 Hong Kong dollars (US$474) per month, which is already 5 percent lower than the old rate because of the economic slump, according to DPA.

According to Immigration officials, there has been a 20 percent rise in Indonesian workers in the past year, making them the second largest group, among a total of 180,000 foreign workers in Hong Kong, after Filipinos, who account for 80 percent.

Meanwhile, Antara reported from Semarang, the capital of Central Java, about the alleged mistreatment of Sakini, a 29-year-old maid, at the hands of her former employer, Yap Teck Meng, in Selangor, Malaysia.

Sakini alleged her employer failed to pay her for the last 10 months of her service, and that he once threw hot soup on her. Sakini, who is now back in her hometown of Salatiga, said she started working for Yap on March 8, 1994. She took a vacation once in June 1998, before again working until September 1999.

"When I asked for permission to return to Indonesia (for a second time), he withheld the remainder of my salary, 3,300 Malaysian ringgit. He said he would send it to me by mail, but it has not arrived," she said.

When she called, Yap allegedly told her that her money amounted to only 800 ringgit, and that he had deducted 500 ringgit for immigration fees.

She said the reason she decided to go home in September was that Yap sexually harassed her.

Reports of the mistreatment of Indonesian maids abroad abound, and Indonesian officials sometimes blame it on the workers' poor education and the poor legal protection available for them in the countries where they work.

Among the most recent reports of abuse was the case of Imas, a maid from West Java working in Saudi Arabia. Her face was badly scarred last year after her employer threw acid on her when she tried to prevent him from killing his wife and children.