Number of runaway OFWs is going up

RIYADH: An increasing number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have run away from their employers in Saudi Arabia, according to a non-governmental organization that looks after migrant workers from the Philippines.

Migrante says that although there are no official statistics, their records show about 3,000 runaway OFWs have sought its help.

“My heart sinks when I think about the sad plight of runaway OFWs. After seeking greener pastures overseas, they have run away for reasons disadvantageous to them,” an official from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) said. “They used to conceal their real status, but now they have become bolder in seeking help so that they can go home to the Philippines.”

To elicit sympathy, these runaway workers even disclose sensitive information, like the fact that they are now working in the black labor market.

Runaway women OFWs are in a much better position than their male counterparts. While they have the Bahay Kalinga shelter in Riyadh and the Filipino Workers Resource Center in Jeddah, places where they can seek refuge after running away from their sponsors, there are no such shelters for runaway male OFWs.

They seek the help of friends and other good-hearted compatriots willing to accommodate them in their homes. However, these friends might be accused of harboring an illegal resident and suffer the consequences. For this reason, not many are willing to help.

As they want to go home, these OFWs seek the help of POLO, which issues a letter for the local governor’s office.

One of these OFWs is Carlo (not his real name), a family driver from Laguna, south of Manila. He used to work in Nasseem district in Riyadh and was lucky enough to get another job after he ran away from his sponsor who used to bully him.

POLO gave him a letter for the governor’s office in Riyadh. The case officer at the office was unable to contact Carlo’s former employer. Eventually, the case officer gave a letter to Carlo to give the employer’s local municipality.

“But the municipality could not contact my former employer, so I was given a letter that  I took to my former employer’s house. But he refused to accept it,” Carlo said. He went back to the municipality, which advised him to take his case to the court.

It is very difficult for an OFW who does not have a job to fend for himself while waiting for the outcome of his case. One of them is Jimmy (not his real name). While hearings into his case rumbles on, he tried to apply as a waiter at one of the Filipino restaurants in Suleimania district, but could not be hired because he was a runaway.

“The management told me that from time to time, police visit the restaurant and check the staff to see if they are legal residents or not,” he said in Tagalog.

Jimmy could have applied for a temporary work permit at the Ministry of Labor so that he could fulfill his daily needs.

“The temporary work permit is issued depending on a runaway’s ability to convince the ministry to issue him a work permit,” said a POLO official.

He claimed that the work permit removes the stigma associated with being an illegal resident.

“He could continue working until his case is resolved,” the official added.

Be that as it may, many of these OFWs prowl the streets looking for jobs or food and money to get them through the day.

“What to do? Asking for help is the most that we can do under the circumstances. The thought of our families back home waiting for our return is what keeps us alive,” said one runaway, who asked Arab News for help. –RODOLFO C. ESTIMO JR. | ARAB NEWS