Filipino runaway maids swell during Ramadan, says Migrante

MANILA, Philippines—The number of Filipino maids who run away from their Muslim employers swell during the Ramadan, when they are also required to fast, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations in the Middle East said Sunday.

Not exempt from household chores during the fasting season, Filipino maids in Muslim households in Muslim countries who wake up early and sleep late usually are not able to survive on a single meal, Migrante-Middle East said in a statement e-mailed to media outfits.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said the number of runaway and distressed cases every month has risen from five before Ramadan to six to eight since the start of the holy season.

He said this figure is similar with previous years’ figures.

“Just last night, I received several short messages from OFW Marie (not her real name) asking for help as she couldn’t anymore endure staying with her employer. She complains that she works 18 to 20 hours a day, with only a single meal and not enough sleep,” Monterona said.

He said Marie, who has been working as a domestic helper for an employer who lives in Al Hassa, Dammam in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia since mid-July this year, is thinking of leaving her employer.

“We advised her to wait as we are still trying to get in touch with the recruitment agency in Manila that deployed her so that it could extend assistance by calling the attention of her employer, who may then allow her to be repatriated,” Monterona said.

At the same time, Migrante-Middle East urged the government to push for the international recognition of domestic work as work so that Filipino domestic helpers may be accorded the rights and protection due them under the standards of the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Convention for the Protection of Migrants and Members of their Families.

“We expect Mrs. Arroyo to carry out this during her forthcoming state visit in Saudi Arabia on mid-September—not just double talking and making empty promises,” Monterona added.

Deployments records issued on 2006 by the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration showed that about 90,000 Filipino maids were deployed abroad, most of them to the Middle East. –INQUIRER.net