Number of Nepali domestic helps in Hong Kong dwindles

PURNA BASNET

HONG KONG, Dec 9: As new aspirants are being denied visa and those who have been staying are gradually switching over to other professions, Nepali domestic workers in Hong Kong are on the decline.

Four year ago, the number of Nepali female domestic helps here was about 2000. But the number of Nepali domestic workers has declined to 700. If this ban continues, there will hardly be any Nepali working here one and a half years from now.

“We are the fewest among foreign domestic helps,” said Maya Rai, president of Nepali Domestic Help Union Hong Kong. “We feel bad that Hong Kong wants to end our 20 years´ history here just like that.”

Nepali female domestic helps have not landed in Hong Kong since the visa ban came into effect in 2005. According to acting consular general of Nepal Sushil Lamsal, domestic helps get two years visa and after it expires, they either have to renew it with their employers or make a new agreement with another party within two weeks. If not, they are sent back home.

Workers from other countries can return to Hong Kong after finding another placement, but not Nepali workers. Most of the Nepali female domestic helps, therefore, marry Nepali nationals here to get residential permission. Some of those whose visas have expired have even been claiming refuge status under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).



A majority of domestic helps in Hong Kong are from Indonesia and the Philippines. As of last year, Philippines sent the largest number of domestic workers to Hong Kong but Indonesia has now outnumbered it by a margin of over 4000. According to Immigration Department of Hong Kong, the number of Indonesian domestic helps is 130,974, which is 49 percent of the total foreign domestic helps working here. Besides Indonesia and Philippines, Thailand, other countries sending domestic helps to Hong Kong are India, China and Nepal.

Domestic helps from Indonesia and Philippines mostly come here with necessary training. Most of the Filipino working here are graduates and can also communicate in English, whereas Indonesian government sends workers after teaching them Cantonese language, which is most preferred by Chinese employers.

Nepali workers generally lag behind due to lack of training and knowledge of the language, which is one of the chief reasons behind the visa ban.

Nepali domestic helps earn the trust of their employers through hard work and honesty. Of the remaining 700 Nepali domestic helps, about 500 work for humble Chinese households. “We land here without necessary training and most of us cannot even operate a rice-cooker and washing-machine,” said Rai, who learned Cantonese while working for a Chinese household for over 14 years. “But Chinese call us ´Lofoian Hou Lousat´, which means hardworking, and hence like us.”

The government has fixed a minimum salary of 3,580 Hong Kong dollars per month (equivalent to nearly 35000 in Nepali currency) to Nepali domestic workers. However, a number of Nepali workers from Nepal and other countries have often complained of not being paid salary on time.

Vice-president of the Union Shova Lama said that domestic workers often complain of over-work, poor accommodation, physical violence and sexual exploitation mostly by Nepali and Indian employers. “But we solve such problems immediately with the help of Labor Department,” she added.

However, women workers are said to have found Hong Kong a safe and secure place to work as compared to Gulf countries. “The employers generally do not misbehave with us here,” said Kamala Tumrok, who spends her weekly-off on Sundays meeting friends. “I found homemaking a nice job only after coming here.”

Indian women of Nepali origin from Darjeeling and Sikkim seem to have replaced Nepali domestic helps. They are mostly preferred in Nepali households. With little hope that visa ban will be lifted, Nepali women too have started entering Hong Kong carrying forged Indian passport via Indian cities.