Qatar, Philippines discuss domestic workers’ protection

Improved protection of Filipino domestic workers was among the issues discussed by Qatar and Philippine officials during a meeting, said a Philippine official.

Atty Hans Leo J Cacdac (pictured), Administrator, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) who headed a delegation, said they “have put forward proposals to improve the protection of domestic workers such as an agreement on recruitment and protection, implementing guidelines for the agreement and a standard contract for them.

“The response was positive and the Qatari side is willing to sit down with us to discuss,” Cacdac told a press meet, adding Qatar is also mulling a ‘domestic workers protection regulation’.

“We are looking forward to it and they said they are going to provide updates as we go along.”

Skills recognition and information orientation programmes for migrant workers were also among the topics reviewed.

‘Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programme for Migrant Workers’ and ‘Skills, Development, Certification, Upgrading and Recognition System’ were two of the outcomes of Abu Dhabi Dialogue, chaired by the Philippines for two years.

“Skills are the best form of protecting our workers… that is why skills recognition is proposed to ensure those deployed have enough skills to protect themselves,” he said.

 
“Those with lower skills set such as domestic workers should be afforded maximum protection,” he said, adding, “when we engage a host country like Qatar we engage them on the level of how best to provide protection rather than discussing deployment figures, volume, etc.

“Abu Dhabi Dialogue is a multi-lateral forum but here we engage the Qataris on these two activities on a bilateral level. We asked them if they were interested in such an information orientation programmes and they said yes, so we will embark on technical discussions to develop the programme.”

The Philippine delegation was in Qatar for the second Philippines-Qatar Joint Committee meeting on labour matters in line with the 2008 Additional Protocol on labour cooperation signed in 1997.

“The agreement is about strengthening the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here, terms and conditions of employment that serve to protect their interest and a standard contract that is recognised by both sides,” he said.

Transparency in recruitment with emphasis on ethical practices through regulation of costs as well as dispute settlements involving OFWs with the participation of the Philippine embassy and Philippine Overseas Labour Office were also discussed, he said. Another meeting is scheduled by the year-end, but Cacdac said there might be a technical meeting prior to it. –Source: The Peninsula Qatar