The MFMW was established in 1981 after a three-month’s survey of the Filipino migrant workers’ condition in Hong Kong in late 1980 that was initiated by the Resource Center for Philippine Concerns and the Holy Carpenter Church and Community Centre (Anglican) in Hong Kong, in cooperation with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines through its General Secretary. It is a response and a commitment of several institutions and interested groups, mostly churches or church-related, in Hong Kong to the increasing number and reports of cases of maltreatment and other exploitative and unfair labor practices affecting migrant workers. It was a commitment to the Christian ideals of justice, love, charity and mercy.

A proposal was drawn up with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, as endorsing institution and sponsor for the staff in the Philippines end. The Holy Carpenter Church and Community Center, on the other hand, sponsored the staff in Hong Kong and acted as consultant for the project respectively. St. John’s Cathedral eventually took over the sponsorship since the project was provided a working space in the Cathedral.

The project has since then evolved into a full-scale program with the objectives of providing social-pastoral care services to respond to the increasing immediate needs of the Filipino migrants; providing legal assistance to alleviate their sufferings and vulnerability; publication of literature specifically geared to the increasing awareness among the migrant workers; and educational and organizational work among them for increased protection of their legitimate rights and for the promotion of their general welfare.