New rules that protect the rights of Filipino domestic workers globally, including in the Gulf, will be enforced by Manila.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) in the Philippines has announced stricter measures to protect Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), particularly those in the domestic sector.
The rights-based approach initiative includes rigorous vetting of licensed recruitment agencies in the Philippines and their foreign counterparts; issuance of custom-made employment contracts that take into account prevailing labour laws and migration policies in destination countries; and sending only trained household workers abroad.
Furthermore, DMW secretary Susan Ople, a well-known migrant workers’ rights advocate, said they will also name and shame employers and manpower agencies – both local and foreign – blacklisted for recruitment and labour violations including severe exploitation and abuse of OFWs.
The move comes after authorities shut down a bogus recruitment firm in Manila that offered non-existent jobs in the Middle East, and arrested illegal recruiters with the help of complainants.
Ms Ople said the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch (AIRB) of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) padlocked in July the office of Kharem’s International, an unregistered and unlicensed company that hired domestic workers, beauticians and on-call cleaners for the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.
She added that six other illegal recruiters from Davao City were also apprehended on August 3 and August 4 from two locations in Metro Manila. The suspected illegal recruiters promised non-existent overseas jobs to 235 victims, the DMW said in a statement.
One of the alleged sub-agent recruiters arrested during the raid was Vegloure Ragotero, who was present in the POEA building in Mandaluyong City.
Ms Ople said she has ordered an investigation into Ragotero’s presence in the building.
“Ragotero and her colleagues have been recruiting male applicants as cleaners for Qatar, and females as cleaners and waitresses for Bahrain,” stated the DMW.
“They allegedly enticed jobseekers with a monthly salary of around P40,000 (BD269) in exchange for P25,000 (BD168) – which they claimed would account for their placement and processing fees, and plane tickets from Davao to Manila.”
Following the incident, Ms Ople urged their nationals to verify job offers with the POEA to avoid falling prey to illegal recruitment schemes.
She also announced strict measures to protect Filipino workers seeking jobs overseas.
“Safeguarding the rights and welfare of our migrant workers is at the heart of DMW’s programmes, services and agreements,” said Ms Ople.
“We will always strive to do our best amid so many challenges in the world we live in.”
She said the DMW will be guided by objectives contained in the United Nations (UN) Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in negotiating labour agreements with other countries.
According to the rules, all new employers must mandatorily view a video related to OFW rights and welfare before signing job contracts. They must also create a whitelist of recruitment agencies – local and foreign – that have been consistently adhering to fair and ethical recruitment standards.
The DMW secretary warned that OFWs in other countries, such as the UAE, were being illegally recruited by Filipinos and foreign agents to work in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and even countries in Europe, namely, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
“We appeal to our nationals to be more discerning about such bogus offers and to report illegal recruiters and human traffickers to the DMW,”said Ms Ople.
There are an estimated 45,000 Filipinos in Bahrain.
The GDN reported in March that 89,477 domestic workers, mainly housemaids, were officially registered in Bahrain until February. They hailed from several countries including the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea, Ghana and the Seychelles.
There are 12 manpower agents that are licensed by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) in Bahrain to supply domestic workers.
The LMRA launched the optional insurance system for domestic workers last year in co-operation with the Central Bank of Bahrain and Bahrain Insurance Association.
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
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