Indonesia is to set up an online rating system for agencies that find employment for foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong after widespread accusations of exploitation.
Following a Domestic Workers Roundtable with NGOs and lawyers in Hong Kong this month, Jakarta said a system will be implemented whereby workers and their employers can rate agencies anonymously.
It is hoped this will help quell the practices of agencies seizing domestic workers’ passports on arrival in Hong Kong and charging exorbitant fees for their services.
The online ratings could also lead to investigations and the subsequent prosecution of offenders.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau welcomed the move, but noted that the SAR has been reluctant to join intergovernmental talks with Indonesia and the Philippines on the matter of how better to protect Hong Kong’s maids.
“In several meetings held in the past few months, representatives from eight consulates actually turned up, so the only people missing were from the Hong Kong government,” she said yesterday, according to the Standard.
“They just want to have bilateral meetings with the governments concerned.”
Photo: Myriam Tsen/Coconuts Media
