Migrant Workers

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority has allayed fears that a full-blown financial crisis could occur in Dubai and displace Filipino workers.

MANILA, Philippines—Starting November 30, Filipinos transiting through New Zealand en route to other destinations have been exempt for securing transit visas, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

MANILA, Philippines – Job seekers should be wary of offers to work in Dubai in light of the financial crisis besetting the Middle Eastern emirate, according to Susan “Toots” Ople, a former labor undersecretary.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Construction worker Bilal is in a happy mood as he takes his lunch break sitting next to an artificial lake near Dubai’s showpiece Mall of the Emirates. But he admits anxiety about the end of his contract in one year’s time, when the 24-year-old may have to return to Bangladesh.

CEBU, Philippines – Overseas Filipino Workers in Italy have an excellent relationship with the Italian government, this was the clarification made by Cebu City south district Rep. Antonio Cuenco regarding reports of maltreatment of OFWs.

LONDON, England – A recent spate of suicides by foreign maids in Lebanon is prompting outrage among human rights groups, who say the government is doing too little to protect migrant domestic workers from severe abuse.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday ruled out the possibility of mass displacement of Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite the prevailing Dubai debt crisis.

Analysts forecast cut in remittances MANILA, Philippines – A brewing debt crisis in Dubai has raised a specter of gloom on the Philippines, where many households have been relying on petrodollars sent home by a large pool of overseas workers in the Middle East.

MANILA – The Philippines is watching 3 key areas that may take a hit from the ongoing Dubai debt crisis: volume of remittances, foreign exchange rates, and the cost of foreign borrowings sourced from global bond market. The 3 indicates the Philippines’ possible areas of vulnerability when a global economic or financial event ensues.

MANILA, Philippines – There are around 3,000 Filipinos detained overseas on criminal charges, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines—Stunned by the vehement rejection of migrant workers rights’ advocates, recruiters on Tuesday said they are withdrawing their proposal to Congress for mandatory insurance coverage for overseas Filipino workers.

SAYS INITIAL RESEARCH MANILA, Philippines—Family expectations, money, relationship with employers, and food and religious beliefs in host country are five of the most common causes of stress among women overseas Filipino workers.

Say Migrant advocates MANILA, Philippines—The proposed mandatory insurance for all overseas Filipino workers will benefit recruiters principally and OFWs only incidentally, the Center for Migrants Advocacy said Monday, opposing a move in Congress to legislate it.

SINGAPORE—As Asia-Pacific leaders tackled further relaxing trade barriers and galvanizing regional integration in the face of the financial crisis, President Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday asked her counterparts to come up with a framework ensuring the protection and fair treatment of migrant workers.

MANILA—Contract for overseas work over a five-year period benefited more rehired land-based overseas Filipino workers, government data reveal.

When landing what may seem to be a lucrative job abroad, most people tend to lose focus on the essentials when preparing to leave.  They get so excited at the prospect of striking it rich and how much money they will be sending home that they totally disregard the rights that they should know.  Forget…

About 70 percent of the detainees have been facing immigration-related charges and would be “deported after serving their brief sentences,” said DFA spokesman Ed Malaya on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines–Hearing labor woes straight from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) themselves, a team of lawmakers is considering recommending a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in the Middle East.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should conduct an inventory of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in jail and to set more frequent visits to monitor their situation and ensure their protection, a group that helps OFWs in distress urged.

Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines representing Akbayan The migrant worker experience is one that is increasingly typical. Let’s start with myself. I am now back in the Philippines, but I spent nearly 20 years as a political exile in the United States during the Marcos dictatorship. During that time I survived…

MANILA, Philippines—Since around Israeli aircraft dropped some 100 bombs on the Gaza Strip in December last year, less than a hundred Filipinos have come home, mostly wives and children of Palestinian residents. No caregivers have come home from Israel.

FEATURE JEDDAH: Larita de la Cruz sits on the concrete base of a bridge pylon, rubs her swollen belly and explains her predicament. She is five months pregnant with twins, and wants to go home to give birth.

MANILA, Philippines—Former Dubai-based bus driver Lisandro feels less awkward despite having been on the road on a passenger seat for over 10 hours. He and 136 male bus drivers have grown accustomed away from the steering wheel since having been stranded in Dubai for three months before coming home April.

MANILA, Philippines—An advocacy group has called on concerned government agencies to draft better provisions that would strengthen the rights of Filipino migrants working in different countries across the world.

MANILA, Philippines—Beginning in December, Filipinos working in the Middle East may take professional licensure examinations in their host countries to boost their credentials.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government’s deployment ban to Lebanon stays since there is still no law in that country to protect foreign workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), an official said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines–Repatriated workers are consulting with Migrante International organization lawyers about the filing of a case against the inaction of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) officials on their illegal recruitment cases. According to Garry Martinez, chairperson of the largest organization of Filipino migrants, there are many illegal recruiters victimizing Filipinos right under the noses…

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) subpoenaed 10 placement agencies to shed light on the distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and some of their family members who lived under the Kandara Bridge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

MANILA – A 28-year-old Filipino household service worker in Saudi Arabia has sought the help of a Filipino migrants group reportedly for fear of being located by an alleged abusive employer whom she ran away from.

MANILA, Philippines — The National Labor Relations Committee has overturned the decision of the executive labor arbiter and ordered Sentosa enterprises to pay the nurses actual damages of $186,372 (about P8.7 million) after finding that the employer “constructively discharged” the nurses, it was learned Tuesday.