UN mission denies RP taken off migrant-friendly countries list

The Philippine mission to the United Nations in Geneva yesterday belied reports that the country has been taken off a UN list of model countries for migrant workers for failing to protect its workers from abuses.

In a report to the Home Office in Manila, the mission said such a UN list from which the Philippines can be de-listed does not exist amid allegations by a local migrant worker group.

“The Philippine government has always championed the rights of migrant workers and their families in all fora in firm recognition of the significant role and contribution of all migrant workers,” Ambassador Erlinda Basilio, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said.

On the contrary, she said the Philippines was praised by members of the Committee on Migrant Workers during the presentation of its report on April 23 to 24, as a model in the field of migration and for its robust institutional capacity to protect its citizens abroad,” the report said.

Basilio noted Abdulhamid El Jamri of Morocco, chairman of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), called the Philippines “a source of inspiration for many, because of its wealth of experience and dynamism in migration management and development.”

“He commended the Philippines for its clear commitment to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and welcomed the size and quality of the Philippine delegation as a concrete manifestation of that commitment,” she added.

In light of the Philippines’ “notable achievements,” Basilio said the CMW even raised the benchmark for evaluation of the Philippines’ implementation of the Convention.

“The Philippines has been the most active advocate, in all UN fora, on the campaign to promote ratification of the Convention on Migrant Workers,” Basilio said.

She moreover said the country figures prominently in the “Guide on Ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families” as a strong supporter of the Migrant Workers Convention.

The Philippines has over eight million overseas workers, mostly concentrated in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe.

Dollar remittances from these overseas workers account for 1/12th of the country’s gross national product and contribute to consumer spending, which accounts for around 70 percent of the gross domestic product of the country. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune