No OFW layoffs in France—envoy

MANILA, Philippines—The estimated 40,000 overseas Filipino workers in France, mostly caregivers privately employed by families, are keeping their jobs despite the layoffs in many parts of the world caused by global recession, new French Ambassador to the Philippines Thierry Borja De Mozota has said.

“At the moment, there is no sign of reduction of workers of families in France. They are not working for companies, so there is no reason for them to lose their jobs,” he told reporters during a reception in his residence in Makati recently.

The ambassador said the French government recognizes the contribution of the Filipino community to the French economy.

However, he said, a cause for concern is the estimated 33,000 undocumented OFWs.

That is why, Borja de Mozota said, his office is working on a bilateral labor agreement between the Philippines and France that would allow Filipino workers in France to obtain their legal working permits.

“This agreement would give undocumented Filipino workers in France a chance to legalize their stay. This will ensure that Filipinos already in France will be provided an avenue to get working permit as soon as they ask for it,” he said.

Separately, the two governments having been trying to hammer out since two years a labor agreement that aims to attract professionals like nurses and doctors, as well as those fashion designers and entrepreneurs, into France.

But the program has not been very successful because Filipinos are generally not proficient in the French language.

The program requires Filipinos to return to the Philippines after a couple of years to use the skills and knowledge they’ve gained in France in their home country.

For the past several years, the European Union has been trying to rationalize its migration policies and programs. Last year, it adopted the so-called Return Directive, detailing how undocumented migrants may be repatriated back to their homeland. This year, it passed the Employers Sanction Directive, which penalizes employers who employ
undocumented migrant workers.

According to EU estimates, there are more than 90,000 undocumented Filipino workers in Europe, mostly working as household service workers in Paris, Nice, Milan, Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona.–Veronica Uy, Inquirer.net