Here some cuttings about that issue. First one is from CHINADAILY.COM.CN - Second one is from Philstar.com - the filipino community:
Govt may seek ruling on abode right
Updated: 2011-08-05 06:26
By Andrea Deng (HK Edition)
Stopgap measures possible to delay foreign domestic helpers from seeking residency
The government may seek an interpretation of certain provisions of the Basic Law that relate to the right of abode after the Court of Final Appeal ruling on a Filipino petition seeking the right after seven years of residency.
Insiders who attended Thursday's special discussion held by the Executive Council said that if the petition is successful and Filipino domestic helpers are granted the right of abode, the government may employ stopgap measures.
That may include applying to the court to suspend execution of the ruling, or to restrict visa extensions of foreign domestic helpers who have stayed in Hong Kong for less than seven years.
Some contended that executive measures such as those would not be effective for those who have stayed in Hong Kong for more than seven years.
If the law is changed, there will be an estimated 125,000 foreign domestic helpers eligible to apply for permanent residency.
In addition, the government pointed out that each domestic helper has three children on average, meaning there may be more than 400,000 foreigners who may become entitled to the right of abode "overnight".
The Filipino petition comes up for review on Aug 22.
Meanwhile, grassroots employees are worrying that they may lose jobs if foreign domestic helpers are granted the right of abode.
Chow Kwai-ying, president of the Commercial Organization and Domicile Services Employments Association, voiced concern on Thursday that the large population of foreign domestic helpers, who will be able to choose other kinds of jobs if they become permanent residents, will exacerbate competition for employment for part-time domestic services and other low-paying trades.
Eman Villanueva, secretary general of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, offered his rebuttal, saying that many of the foreign domestic helpers he talked to remain "undecided" over their career future if the law is changed.
"I don't understand why Hong Kong people are so concerned about it. Not necessarily all the eligible migrant workers intend to stay in Hong Kong forever, but some will choose to go home and stay with their families. It's just more convenient for them to depart and come back, and I believe that this is a right that they should enjoy," Villanueva told China Daily.
"Migrant workers do not have the intention to steal the jobs from local people whatsoever. It is also largely dependent on the need of employers - whether they want to hire people who can speak Chinese or people who just need to do some part-time jobs," he said.
Chow, however, said that part-time domestic helpers will be affected the most if the foreign domestic helpers change their jobs, since the job nature is very similar.
She cited statistics from the Employees Retraining Board that there are more than 100,000 local people who are trained and qualified as domestic helpers, yet the market is neither large nor stable.
She said that a few hundred members of the association have phoned and expressed concern.
However, Villanueva said: "Some migrant workers do intend to change to other kinds of jobs - because they are graduate students - such as school teachers or nurses, though it's another matter whether they could secure these jobs; others don't even have any idea what kind of jobs will be available to them other than domestic service."
andrea@chinadailyhk.com
China Daily
(HK Edition 08/05/2011 page1)
Here the 2nd one:
4 Pinay maids wage legal battle for permanent HK residency
By Carina Roncesvalles (The Philippine Star) Updated August 03, 2011 12:00 AM
HONG KONG – At least four Filipino domestic workers who have been working here for more than 20 years have waged a legal battle for the Hong Kong government to grant them permanent residency.
The High Court is scheduled to hear one of the three petitions on Aug. 22, which was filed by Evangeline Vallejos, a domestic worker here since 1986.
The two other petitioners are Irene Domingo and her husband Daniel, who worked here as domestic workers from 1982 to 2007 and from 1985 to 2007, respectively. Two of their three children who were born here are already permanent residents.
Josephine Gutierrez, who had been working here as a domestic worker since 1991, also filed a similar petition.
The Court is set to hear the petition of the Domingos on Oct. 18 and of Gutierrez on Oct. 26.
In their petitions filed at the Court of First Instance last December, the Filipinos asked the Court to declare them as permanent residents of this city under the Basic Law.
The Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, states that permanent residents include non-Chinese nationals who have “ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence.”
The Filipino domestic workers also asked the court to declare as unconstitutional the Immigration Ordinance that refuses permanent residency rights to domestic helpers.
Under the ordinance, “a person shall not be treated as ordinary resident in Hong Kong while employed as a domestic helper.”
The Filipinos also asked the court to declare that the Immigration Ordinance contravenes the Bill of Rights Ordinance that provides rights without distinction of race.
The Filipinos’ claims for right of abode have elicited widespread interest and even scare tactics among local residents.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the city’s biggest pro-government party, estimated that 500,000 new residents could settle in Hong Kong if the judicial review favors the domestic helpers. The estimate was based on the assumption that each eligible domestic helper would bring his or her spouse and two children to the city.
Data from the immigration department here showed that there are 138,933 Filipino domestic workers who are earning at least HK$23,740 (P20,130). The figure accounts for 47.5 percent of the total foreign domestic helpers (FDH) population of 292,473 as of June. It is estimated that at least one-third of the total FDH population have worked here for more than seven years.
The Philippine consulate reported that there are 12,452 Filipino permanent residents in the former British colony, while there are around 5,000 holders of work permits and dependent visas as of last year.
DAB claimed that the unemployment rate could rise to 10 percent from 3.5 percent if domestic helpers would get residency status that would eventually allow them to apply for jobs as local minimum wage earners.
Foreign domestic helpers are excluded from the initial hourly minimum wage rate of $28 (P150) implemented last May.
Legislator Paul Tse earlier feared that a rush of domestic helpers with permanent residency would gravely affect the city’s welfare resources.
Legislator Regina Ip, meanwhile, said the Hong Kong government should seek an interpretation of the Basic Law from Beijing before the court rules on the domestic helpers’ petition.
Comment from me: It is also somewhat to question why not any domestic helper ever have tried to apply for permanent residency after being here for 7 years ? And this is because of this:
Under the ordinance, “a person shall not be treated as ordinary resident in Hong Kong while employed as a domestic helper.”
For example in Denmark you only can hire a maid as a so-called Aupair for a maximum of 1 year & with a maximum work hours of 8 per day. After the period is over the Aupair need to move on means out - mostly to another Scandinavian neighbour country like Sweden or Norway. A normal maid (domestic helper like filipina or indonesians) in terms we are used here is not existing at all in Europe.
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