A 33-year-old Filipina who did domestic work before giving birth to children in Hong Kong has lost her bid for a judicial review of a government order to deport her.
The Court of First Instance rejected the application for leave to apply for a judicial review filed by Jeneth Pepito on September 7. The court was not convinced of her grounds to appeal against dismissals by the Immigration director and Torture Claim Appeal Board of her application for asylum, the sunwebhk.com reported.
Pepito had asked for more time to apply for leave for herself and her daughters Zainab Iftikhar Ahmed and Ayesha Iftikhar Ahmed, on the ground that they were not represented in their appeal before the Board, and they were not assisted by an interpreter.
But Judge Bruno Chan refused and said Pepito was able to argue her case fully when she appeared before the director and to testify before the Appeal Board.
Pepito, who is from Dolores in Abra province, arrived in Hong Kong in April 2015 to work as a domestic worker but she was dismissed prematurely.
She overstayed after May 8 and surrendered to Immigration on July 20 and filed for non-refoulement, claiming that if she returned to the Philippines, she would be harmed or killed by her abusive ex-husband after he learned that she had had two daughters to a Pakistani man. Pepito and the ex-husband have a son and a daughter.
Pepito gave birth to her twin daughters in Hong Kong on October 29. She subsequently also lodged a non-refoulement claim for the girls, citing the same grounds.