Illegal deployment of OFWs in Middle East rising

MANILA, Philippines – The government expressed alarm yesterday over the rising number of illegally deployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Jordan and other Middle East countries.

Quoting Labor Attaché to Amman, Jordan Henry Parel, Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion said about 180 of the 236 OFWs who have sought refuge at the Bahay Kalinga in Amman last month were undocumented.

Brion said most of the workers who ran away from their employers were household service workers (HSW).

Of the 225 household workers staying at Bahay Kalinga as of December, 170 were undocumented, he added.

Brion said the government has suspended the deployment of workers to Jordan because of the rising number of distressed Filipino workers in that country.

“The suspension means that no OFW is allowed to work in Jordan as an HSW,” he said.

Meanwhile, Brion warned Filipino workers against dealing with agencies offering assistance to those looking for jobs in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates without any employment contract.

“Undocumented workers are more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation since there are no contracts to bind their employers with responsibilities and corresponding liabilities that usually go with legitimate employment contracts,” he said.

Overseas employment has prevented the country’s unemployment from soaring by at least 50 percent, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday.

TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar said 1,073,402 Filipino workers were deployed abroad in 2007 and about the same number the previous year. – Mayen Jaymalin