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致入境處/勞工處

近日在報章上，我們看到著名歌手李紫昕，展示其家傭所居住的地方，竟然是加建在馬桶上，狹小的睡牀。(請參見報章報導：http://news.hkheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=196270)

違反聘用家庭傭工的僱傭合約﹖
我們相信李女士的作法，違反了從海外地區聘用家庭傭工的僱傭合約。我們要求 貴署核實，李家提供的住宿條件，是否合乎僱傭合約中要求「為傭工提供合適及有合理私隱的住宿地方」一項。雖然李女士或會辯稱那並非家傭的睡牀，但政府有責任查明真相。
入境處的「從香港以外地區聘用家庭傭工的僱傭合約」(ID407) 列明：
僱主應給予傭工提供合適及有合理私隱的住宿地方。不適當住宿安排的例子有：傭工須要睡在擺放在走廊而沒有私人空間的臨時牀鋪和與異性成人/青少年同住一房間。
具體的房間大小和安排還需要列明。然而，當傭工抵達住處時，除非她打算被辭掉，否則她全然沒有權力投訴。
在廁所、書房、浴缸、廚房地板上睡覺等等，都是很多家庭傭工必須面對的。要不啞忍，要不就被辭退。這是香港醜惡現實的寫照。
香港政府，作為準許外傭合法入境的執法機構，絶對要對他們的安全負全責。

毫無監管﹖
據我們所了解，香港政府從沒有監管或抽查外傭的居住情況。根據我們跟入境署和勞工署的電話對答，他們皆承認，他們對外傭不當住宿安排的投訴，並沒備案。

入境署不曾投入任何資源，去調查及監管外籍家庭傭工的居住情況。
根據審計署2011年3月所作的審計核查，入境署不曾就該方面進行過任何調查工作。
移民聯盟(2011)的數據顯示，該聯盟2,023名成員中，67%沒 有自己的房間，大部份需要跟兒童或年長的家庭成員同睡一房。有的要睡在客廳、有的在廚房、洗衣房，缺乏空間儲存私人物品。她們是香港的工人，香港的女工， 她們的安全極度需要保障。假如她們沒有合適的居住環境、沒有私隠、對工作條件毫無控制權，這是我們一手造成的。我們日以繼夜、年復一年地漠視和侵犯了她們 的權利。

行動起來﹗ 不要等僱主大發善心。香港政府必須採取行動，保障工人及還她們合適居住環境的權利，以作為聘用條件的前提。
我們對香港現在情況，如一個著名歌手可以聒不知恥地在自己達一千八百尺的大宅內，要求家傭睡在如此不堪的地方，非常地失望。

造成家傭居住環境如此不堪，始作俑者，是政府執法的不作為。
香港政府必須要求僱主提供合適的居住環境，並在外傭抵港前核查清楚。
香港政府必須採取具體和強硬的手段，以令家傭睡在廁所或地板上的情況不復再現。

我們希望外傭不必再忍受如此屈辱的情況，這絶對是香港的恥辱。此等非人道的居住條件 對人性的侵犯是很嚴重的。我們期待 貴署立即回覆及採取行動。

Dear Immigration/Labour Department,

Recently in the news, we found that a famous singer, Miss Purple Lee, showed photos of her domestic worker accommodation – it was built above a toilet.(Refer to: http://news.hkheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=196270)

Violation of ‘suitable accommodation’ requirement in DH Employment Contract?
We believe this is a violation of the standard employment contract for domestic helpers from abroad. Please confirm whether the Immigration and Labour Department consider it ‘suitable’ accommodation or not. (to be added?) Although the singer may claim that it is not the domestic workers' bed, the Government should check whether this claim is true or not.

In the standard contract from the Immigration Department (ID 407) it says:
The Employer should provide the Helper suitable accommodation and with reasons privacy. Examples of unsuitable accommodation are: The Helper having to sleep on made-do beds in the corridor with little privacy and sharing a room with an adult/teenager of the opposite sex.

The estimated size of the room and the exact sleeping arrangement are supposed to be specified. But once the worker has arrived, she has no power to complain or she may be terminated.

Sleeping in the toilet, in the study room, in a bathtub, on a kitchen floor…. These are conditions that many domestic workers must live in, or else risk being terminated. This is a shameful reality in Hong Kong.
The Government, which allows the workers to legally immigrate, is completely responsible for ensuring the workers’ safety while here.
No monitoring?
Yet we have learned there is NO mechanism for monitoring and inspection offered by the Hong Kong government. In phone conversations, the Immigration Department and the Labour Department have admitted that they have no record regarding the number of complaints received about improper accommodation.

The Immigration Department does not show any investment into the inspection and monitoring regarding the living environment of foreign domestic workers.

According to the audit review written by the Audit Commission in March 2011, there is no evidence of any inspection action carried out by the Immigration Department.

Also, according to Mission for Migrant Workers (2011), 67% of the 2,023 clients served by the Mission did not have their own room, often sharing with children or elderly family members. Sometimes they sleep out in the living room or in other places like the pantry or laundry room, and lack places to keep their things. They are Hong Kong workers, and they are Hong Kong female workers – they very much need the protection of their safety while at work. If they cannot sleep in decent conditions, have no privacy, no oversight at all of their work conditions, then it is our responsibility as Hong Kong people that violations of their rights happen over and over again, year after year.

IT MUST STOP – don’t wait for employers to ‘be good’ even while the Government does not monitor. The Government must take strong action to protect the workers and give them decent accommodation as a pre-condition of employment.

We feel very disappointed that in Hong Kong, even a famous singer feels no shame about providing such a horrible place for their domestic worker to sleep, even when the home size is 1,800 square feet.

This attitude about the housing of the domestic workers is due to lack of Government enforcement.

The Government should ensure that employers provide decent housing and make sure to check that it is suitable for the workers before they arrive and are unable to complain.
The Government must take concrete and firm measures to ensure that domestic workers sleeping above a toilet or on the floor does not happen in ANY home in Hong Kong.

We hope we never see such shameful conditions for domestic workers ever again. It is a shame to Hong Kong.These inhumane accommodations are a serious violation against human beings and we expect your immediate reply and action.

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