Philippines gov't backs GCC deployment; says will be subject to 'further review'
A new blacklist published by the Philippines government banning deployment of overseas workers includes no Gulf nations.
Filipino workers will continue to be deployed to the region after the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE were omitted from the list of 41 banned countries.
These countries are deemed to lack sufficient laws to protect Filipino workers and include India, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan.
In September, media reports from Manila said the ban could include the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar because the Philippines government could not guarantee overseas Filipino workers' protection.
Filipino maids are currently subject to a separate ban from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom said it was seeking new sources for foreign workers. after countries in the region were not included in a new
But despite not being included on the new banned list, none of the Gulf nations appeared on the list of those that comply with Philippine government standards regarding the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) released two board resolutions — one that approves OFW deployment to 49 countries and another that bans OFWs from 41 nations.
Six of the top 10 destinations for OFWs were not found on either list.
According to the POEA, OFWs can still be sent to these countries subject to "further review and evaluation".
According to media reports from Manila, Philippine embassies submitted "qualified compliance" certificates for these countries where skilled workers are well-protected but less-skilled may not be as protected.
I, for one, favors the banning of deploying Filipino maids to Saudi Arabia in spite its being a big market for household helps. The Saudi government must first enact laws concerning the treatment and real protection of domestic helps, regardless of their nationalities. Even the Manila government stands short of the effective policies and steps to assess the fate of Filipino maids during the duration of their contracts with the Saudi employers.
Meantime, limiting the deployment of these maids to only four countries thus far, might be an initial step for the Manila lawmakers to put an end to the stories of physically and morally-abused, and other tales of woes of some Filipino maids in the Arab lands.
The Philippines is a poor and indebted Third World nation. She is not in a position to ban lucrative foreign employers.
I am guessing you think India is developed Sadat ....why is India still receiving foreign aid, why are North Americans constantly asked to send food and cash to India daily in our public Media. Philippines may well be poor but she is not humbled to any foreign country.
You are exaggerating when you say North Americans are "constantly asked to send food and cash to India". India has a huge population under the poverty line and lagging in every form of Human development indicator. However they also have a large middle class. As for charity, western government should definitely not send aid to India given that Indian financial position is not that bad that they will need aid to survive, they just need to manage things better. The Philippines also has many people in poverty.
However i have always wondered 2 things about the Philippines, why is the Philippines lagging behind in development unlike neighbours like Thailand,Malaysia or even Vietnam ? And secondly why even thougn Indians, and other Asians run businesses when they go to other countries, Filipinos are unable to open hardly any businesses ?
@Ali, I think the explanation has mostly to do with cultural and historical reasons. Both corruption and lack of entrepreneurial spirit are common also to LatAm, probably to a lesser degree there.
I think one of the unfortunate consequences of the Spanish presence is a very weak civil society, where institutions are not supposed to be strong (so they will not become a nuisance to the virrey)
The entrepreneurship thing has never been a Spanish thing, we were late to capitalism and industrial revolution and our former colonies were left stuck into an agrarian society mindset. You also have the full Weber thing about protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism :)
Of all our former colonies PI is the one that shows this to a larger extent.
@Sadat - You must be a man of no principles if you can make such a statement Sadat! The Philippines may not be rich but they have every right to try to end slavery, drudgery and protect their own people!
Hi,
Procan, recently India bailed out UK and EU is asking for financial help from China, Brazil and India to tide over its crisis.
India is in a much better position. So don't compare and listen we do not receive foreign aid at all, we give them.
Sid
Shame on you Sadat. Every nation has the right.... in fact the duty.... to protect its citizens and it is people like you that make such moves necessary. Pity the Philippine Government only blocked the countries where most of their citizens don't really want to go. It would have had a much bigger impact if the GCC states would have been included as to be fair there are so many examples of abuse here that such a ban is well deserved.
True, not just Philippines any country in the world should not sell their own citizens. Philippinos are pleasant and hardworking, if any country is abusing their citizens then Philipine government should be take necessary steps such as send only Skilled workers.
Sanjay, What utter rubbish!! India receives £290m per year in aid from the UK. India has more people living below the poverty line than the whole of sub-saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. Until middle-class Indians remove their rose-tinted spectacles and realise that India is not the greatest nation on earth, and has many problems that desperately need to be sorted out, then I find it very difficult to take them seriously.
