Indonesian maids sacked after contracting SARS in Hong Kong

Indonesian maids sacked after contracting SARS in Hong Kong

At least two Indonesian domestic helpers were fired by their employers in Hong Kong after they contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a migrant association said on Monday.

Eni Lestari, head of the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, said she is working with one of the two helpers to file for compensation. Lestari told AFP the helper was fired by her employer after she recovered from SARS.

The other helper, identified only as Sara, was sent back to Indonesia on Sunday before Lestari could contact her.

Lestari said Sara was also fired after recovering from SARS, which she is thought to have contracted in March while shopping in a market in Amoy Gardens, where 321 Hong Kong families fell ill in the territory's largest outbreak of the disease.

Lestari called the firings "unfair" because the helpers got sick while working for their bosses.

At least 27 foreign domestic helpers were reported to have contracted SARS in Hong Kong. Two from the Philippines and one from Indonesia have died so far of the disease.

Last week, a group of foreign helpers staged a protest urging the government to act against employers who were accused of using the SARS crisis to discriminate against them.

They claimed some domestic helpers in Hong Kong, one of the areas hardest hit by the SARS outbreak, have been denied days off because employers feared they would go out and contract the virus.

However, the protesters said employers have forced them go to markets, accompany children to and from school and run other errands without worrying about exposure to SARS.

Some maids said they were asked to wear face masks for the whole day, and that their employers had refused to pay for the masks.

Hong Kong has reported a total of 215 SARS fatalities from 1,678 infections.

Most of Hong Kong's 240,000 foreign domestic helpers are from the Philippines, with Indonesia and Thailand also contributing significant numbers. -- AFP