MANILA, Philippines – A group of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) yesterday demanded the full lifting of the government’s deployment ban in Bahrain to enable more Filipinos to work there.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said other countries have already lowered the alert level previously issued on Bahrain, so the Philippine government must do the same and allow new hires to leave.
“The lifting of the travel ban by the Nepalese and Sri Lankan governments has been made on the basis of the recent peace and order situation assessment in Bahrain, which is relatively peaceful now and does not anymore pose great risk to their nationals… as compared to last month,” Monterona said.
He said the government should send a team to reassess the situation and eventually lift the partial deployment ban in Bahrain.
“If other migrant-sending governments have already lifted their self-imposed travel ban on its working nationals in Bahrain, then it would be prudent on the part of the Philippine government to reassess the current alert level 2, downgrade it, and thereby allow our OFWs, returning and new hire, to travel to Bahrain,” Monterona explained.
The government previously banned the sending of workers to Bahrain due to escalating tensions there, but eventually lowered the alert level and allowed workers to return.
According to the OFWs, a lot of Filipinos are now suffering from underemployment and unemployment and the government could address the problem by lifting the partial deployment ban in Bahrain.
An OFW currently working in Bahrain said the situation there is already back to normal.
Monterona said the government should see and understand the dire economic standing of the returning and newly hired OFWs bound for Bahrain who need a job to earn a living for their struggling families in the Philippines.
The government has already reported a decline in deployment of Filipino workers abroad as a result of the political turmoil in several countries in the Middle East.–Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
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Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
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Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
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Week 1: Environmental Week
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and Made-in-the-Philippines
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Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
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Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
Mar 4— Employee Appreciation Day
Mar 15 — World Consumer Rights Day
Mar 18 — Global Recycling Day
Mar 21 — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Mar 23 — International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
Mar 25 — International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Mar 27 — Earth Hour
