MANILA – A growing number of Filipinos are exploiting loopholes in Hong Kong’s processing of torture claims and its lenient accommodation of political asylum-seekers to extend their stays and work illegally in the former British colony.

The inclusion of Filipinos among mostly African and South Asian applicants is contributing to bureaucratic backlogs in the processing of applications, which can take years for immigration authorities to identify and process legitimate claimants. The scheme leverages into human-rights groups that have chronicled abuse of domestic workers across the region, including in Hong Kong.