Germany not pirating Filipino nursing students – envoy

MANILA, Philippines — Germany is not pirating Filipino nursing students, German Ambassador Anke Reiffenstuel said yesterday.

Reiffenstuel denied that her country is pirating Filipino students to fill its nursing shortage.

She said that Germany’s Triple Win Project (TWP), a landmark government-to-government agreement signed by both countries in 2013 for the recruitment of qualified nurses, is a major success.

“Germany works closely with Philippine schools, colleges and agencies in our recruitment efforts. Germany offers good salaries, social services and upskilling of Philippine health care workers,” Reiffenstuel said in a post on Twitter.

The TWP is intended for the recruitment of nursing professionals from non-European Union states for the German health care and nursing sector.

Since 2013, Germany has recruited more than 4,300 nurses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines and Tunisia under its Triple Win framework.

In June, the Philippine embassy in Berlin announced that the two countries signed an agreement that seeks to facilitate the entry of Filipino health care professionals to Germany.

Former labor secretary Silvestre Bello III and Germany’s Federal Health Secretary Karl Lauterbach signed the memorandum of understanding that would complement the TWP.

The agreement aims to enhance the existing private recruitment track for nurses and other health care professionals –physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists – who want to enter the German labor market.

There are currently 6,000 Filipino nurses in Germany. Of the figure, around 2,000 entered the country through the TWP and 4,000 through the private track.