On Monday, a Hong Kong court ruled that domestic workers are not entitled to be permanent residents. The woman that the case concerned is an immigrant from the Philippines who has lived in Hong Kong for 27 years. Allowing domestic workers permanent residency would give them the rights to use the health care system and other services. Many supporters of the workers say that the ruling will only entrench the workers as second-class, and allow for abuses of the system and workers. There are about 300,000 domestic workers, almost all women.
See "Hong Kong Court Denies Residency to Domestics", Keith Bradsher, The New York Times, March 25, 2013