The political intricacies of OFW repatriation

As a former labor attache deployed in Malaysia, Kuwait and Central Taiwan, we have been directly instrumental in the actual repatriation of distressed Filipino migrant workers. We have sent off boatloads of Filipinos from Sandakan, North Sabah to Tawi Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga, every Friday, only to see them again in Kota Kinabalu by Monday.

Now that a shooting war is raging in Syria, after our experiences in Egypt and Libya, Filipinos here have different notions of repatriation. Most of our countrymen form opinions that are not well-anchored on the realities on the ground, as well as oblivious of the many intricacies, mostly political. And so, we write this piece and we know very well whereof we write.

Whenever OFWs are in distress in another country, either because of human trafficking, illegal recruitment or physical abuses, the labor attache and the welfare officer are our men on the ground who are mandated by law to cause the repatriation of our nationals. Whatever the cost, repatriation must be done. While the law provides that repatriation is the primary responsibility of the agencies that recruited and deployed the OFWs, these recruiters are often absent when the rubber hits the road. If we wait for them, death, destruction and disasters shall have already made everything else moot and academic. Time is of the essence.

The government is under constant pressure by politicians, NGOs, families, media and the rest of humanity who all enjoy the comforts of their ivory towers. Members of Congress deliver privilege speeches and lambast the DFA and DOLE for being unable to bring bodies, dead or alive, within timetables set by people who do not know what they are talking about. Oftentimes, logistics are inadequate, manpower is not enough, information on the exact locations of fleeing migrant workers are not available. Meanwhile, the biased media always take the sides of the families and hurl charges at men on the ground, as if we were the ones who started the war.

There are many undocumented Filipinos (they are not illegals but merely undocumented).  They crossed the borders at nights. They entered without work visas, or they stayed way beyond their immigration deadlines. When problems arise, they run to the embassy and the labor attaches have to shelter them, send them to hospitals for treatment.

Minor migrant workers, who falsified their passports, must be repatriated immediately. But if their employers have filed a case of breach of work contract for abandoning their jobs, then they have to face a criminal prosecution. In some countries, absconding is oftentimes considered a criminal offense. When they face a criminal complaint, they cannot be issued an exit visa. Most of the time, the victim would not prosecute in exchange for the exit visa.

There are other problematic repatriations, like that of a sick or a dying person or the repatriation of an undocumented child whose parents died or abandoned them. They could not be put on board the plane unescorted. Now, the question is who shall pay for the escort, and who shall volunteer to accompany a patient and attend to their needs in transit on a 17-hour or longer international flight? The labor attaches are not expected to ask questions. They simply have to provide the answers and the solutions.

In my years of experience as a labor diplomat in the most difficult posts, I have seen with my own eyes how miserable are our people in dangerous, degrading and deceptive jobs. I have rescued fishermen in Penang, Malaysia who were trafficked as tourists and hired to work in deep sea fishing ventures and then cheated of their wages. I have saved sex slaves in prostitution dens. I have cried with domestic helpers who were raped, maimed and persecuted by cruel employers. I have appeared before foreign immigration and labor tribunals. I have argued for the cause of our migrant workers before foreign courts, which could not understand English. I have visited dying OFWs in their hospital beds. I have sealed the coffins of dead Filipinos. I have seen with my eyes the pains and sufferings of our migrant workers.

I am happy that I have done my best to help our workers abroad. I dare say to those who, from their ivory towers, would choose to attack, criticize and malign people on the ground: Come and try to help in the rescue and repatriation of the Filipinos.