Four organizational representatives from the Asian Migrants Coordination Agency in Hong Kong from the Philippines and Indonesia (AMCB), have submitted an official complaint letter to the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) on Monday (3/5), regarding mandatory COVID-19 testing for all migrant domestic workers (PRT) in Hong Kong who are considered discriminatory, Tuesday (4/5/2021).
Speaking at the RTHK program, EOC Chairman Ricky Chu responded to the complaint and said that the regulations issued by the government for all migrant domestic workers to undergo coronavirus tests and vaccines are not discriminatory, because different treatment is indeed allowed for measures aimed at protecting public health.
In addition to ordering 370,000 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong to be tested for Covid-19 by May 9, the government said it would also require migrant domestic workers to be vaccinated in order to obtain a work visa extension.
Members of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Board demanded an apology from Labor Law and Welfare Secretary Chi-kwong, who on Friday said domestic workers who do not want a vaccine can choose not to work in Hong Kong.
AMCB spokesperson, Sringatin, said that many migrant domestic workers have panicked since the government’s announcement of mandatory Covid-19 testing on Friday, and many domestic workers are worried they will be stigmatized by local residents.
Sringatin said several domestic workers had reported that their employers had asked them to do a test and were not allowed to return home or to work at their employer’s house if they had not taken a Covid-19 test.
“The threat is not only from the government but also from their employers who follow instructions from the government because they also don’t want to lose their domestic workers,” said Sring.
Sringatin said the EOC would respond to their complaint within three working days. However, given the May 9 deadline for Covid tests, he will ask members to file individual complaints by Tuesday.
But Ricky Chu of the EOC has said that any measures aimed at protecting public health, including epidemic prevention measures, are reasonable and necessary even if they lead to different treatments. He said the act could violate Hong Kong’s Race Discrimination Act if it targeted a specific race, but in this case, it only targeted a specific profession.
“Any anti-pandemic measure or even the vaccination itself represents a different kind of treatment,” Chu said, after being asked if the measure should be imposed on other migrant workers in Hong Kong for the sake of justice.
“In practical terms, it is very difficult to come up with a measure that is not different,” Chu replied.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, Teresa Liu Tsui-lan, also managing director of the Technic Employment Service Center, questioned whether serious side effects or resulting in death after vaccination, would be considered an occupational injury and therefore covered by the workers compensation insurance.
“In the worst case, what if the migrant domestic worker dies after getting the vaccine? Will it be insured? Will it be considered a death arising from work? There are also complications, if workers decide not to follow the vaccination rules it is recommended to leave Hong Kong,” Liu said as reported by The Standard.
Liu gave an example, if a migrant domestic worker who has worked in the same employer’s family for many years, and is entitled to a long service bonus pay.
“Employers said I would not fire him, and workers said I would not resign. It is the government that does not allow workers to stay. Then who has to pay the long service bonus payments?” Liu asked.
Betty Yung Ma Shan-yee, chairman of the Hong Kong Overseas Domestic Employers Association, said an employer told her that a domestic worker insisted on getting vaccinated despite having high blood pressure. And that, Yung said, made employers worry about whose responsibility the domestic worker had complications.
“The employer asked the worker to sign a statement saying that she should be responsible for her own decisions, but the domestic worker refused,” Yung explained.
Yung said many migrant domestic workers are not aware that they are protected or not by the government’s compensation fund, which offers compensation to those who suffer the ill effects of vaccination.
