UNIFIL: Support HK Helpers’ Fight for Right of Abode

A Filipino community leader is calling for support for four foreign domestic helpers who are about to go to the High Court to press their claim for right of abode. Eman C. Villanueva, secretary general of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, said the court challenge is a fight for the rights of all migrant workers and must be supported.

“This is a fight for our common cause, so we should rally behind those who are leading the way for us,” said Villanueva.

On Aug. 22, Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has worked as a domestic helper in Hong Kong for 25 years, will appear before the Court of First Instance to argue that she is entitled to permanent residency under the Basic Law.

She will be followed in October by spouses Daniel and Irene Raboy, who were given unconditional stay in Hong Kong, in November 2007, after their two older children made Hong Kong legal history by acquiring right of abode. Their youngest son who used to live in the Philippines, has also been allowed to stay in Hong Kong.

The last applicant is Josephine Gutierrez, a domestic helper for the past 20 years, who lives with her son in Hong Kong.

All four are seeking a judicial review against section 2 of the Immigration Ordinance denying right of abode to foreign domestic helpers, saying this is in violation of the Basic Law.

Article 24 of the Basic Law allows non-Chinese who have entered Hong Kong with a valid travel document, and have ordinarily resided here for a continuous period of not less than seven years and have taken HK as their place of permanent residence, to have right of abode.

Vallejos, who is from Pangasinan, has worked for the same employer for 25 years. Daniel Domingo has worked continuously in Hong Kong since Aug. 5, 1985, while Irene first arrived here on Aug. 5, 1982, and has lived here since, except for a brief period when she had to go back to the Philippines to wait for a new working visa.

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