21 March 2016

The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong SAR commends the Justice Centre for initiating the first quantitative survey on the conditions of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Hong Kong through the publication titled “Coming Clean: The prevalence of forced labor and human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor amongst migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong”. 

This study is a good source of information for the Philippines in planning and implementing programs and projects for Filipino domestic workers in the Territory to enhance and strengthen current initiatives to protect their rights and promote their welfare.

However, the Consulate wishes to emphasize that, in general, Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong are in a much better situation than those in other job destination countries. Based on the number of employee-employer cases brought to the Consulate’s attention, it is safe to say that incidents of exploitation, much less forced labor, are rare and isolated. 

The Philippine Consulate General hopes that more and deeper research on issues pertinent to MDWs can be conducted for the mutual benefit of MDWs and employers in Hong Kong, as well as governments of Hong Kong and sending countries.  END