The decision to grant Vallejos Evangeline Banao the right to seek residency under the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution, could also draw in Beijing which might seek to re-interpret the laws under which the territory is governed, analysts said.

Hong Kong High Court Judge M. H. Lam said it was unconstitutional to deny foreign maids the right of residency even though many were employed on short term, two year contracts, that are often repeatedly renewed.

“On final analysis, these features whether taken individually or collectively cannot take a FDH’s (foreign domestic helper’s) residence out of the concept of ordinary residence,” Lam wrote in the judgment.

While rights activists and the large Filipino community said the ruling was a vote for fairness and non-discrimination, residents are concerned about a potential influx of migrants in the city of 7 million.

“I am personally disappointed by the judgment,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang told reporters.

Ambrose Lee, Hong Kong security secretary, later told a news briefing that the government will appeal against the ruling.

“We strongly oppose this. This is unfair to us Hong Kong people,” Kang-yiu Tong, chairman of Service Industry General Union, said.

A big concern among politicians in Hong Kong is that the verdict favoring the helper would force the government to ask Beijing for an interpretation of the city’s constitution on the issue of accepting migrants.

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said he could not immediately comment on the ruling.

Hong Kong, a British colony for 150 years, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and is supposed to retain a high level of internal autonomy.

In 1999, a ruling by Hong Kong’s highest court that granted the right of abode to many Chinese citizens, was later overturned by China’s top legal body — the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

That move provoked widespread concern with legal experts saying it undermined Hong Kong’s judicial independence.

“A decision in a right of abode case would inevitably have social, economic and political impact on the society. It is not surprising that people in Hong Kong are concerned as to the possible outcome,” judge Lam said.

Under Hong Kong’s constitution, foreigners are entitled to permanent residency — and with it, rights to voting, welfare and other services — if they have resided here for a continuous period of seven years.

But the city’s immigration ordinance excludes some 290,000 foreign domestic workers — 146,000 from Indonesia and 139,000 from the Philippines — from permanent residency. Of these, 117,000 have been continuously working in Hong Kong for more than 7 years and potentially eligible for residency based on the court’s judgment.

Banao has lived in Hong Kong since 1986.

“We’re happy because the court finally recognized that there is such discrimination against domestic workers,” said Eni Lestari, a spokesperson for Hong Kong-based Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body.