Migrant Workers

MANILA, Philippines—A Canadian news service has exposed the maltreatment of four overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at a fastfood restaurant in Manitoba province.

MANILA, Philippines – Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Rubens Fedele dubbed as misleading the article that came out in The STAR’s issue last Saturday, Oct. 10, titled “Italians define ‘Filippina’ as ‘cleaning woman’.”

Europeans also to help Manila solve killings Instead of flushing out the around 100,000 undocumented Filipinos in Europe, the European Union (EU) plans to legalize their stay for helping keep the continent’s economy afloat amid the global economic crisis.

Paris (AFP): Governments worldwide should look at changes to their immigration policies with a view to offering a “new deal” to migrant workers whose skills can help spur economic recovery, said a United Nations (UN) report released on Monday.

Two legislators yesterday blasted both the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for their utter failure to address the sorry plight of many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

A group of labor advocates yesterday voiced their opposition to the proposed amendments to the Migrant Workers Act, saying it does not address the concerns of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) but only encourages illegal recruitment and corruption in government.

Thirty-two distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were repatriated yesterday through the efforts of former President Joseph Estrada and Senate Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

MANILA, Philippines – For their invaluable contribution to the Philippine economy, the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) get little in return in times when they need it the most. Too often news of OFWs getting killed, wrongly imprisoned, being maltreated and other horrifying experiences they have to endure away from their loved ones. As in most…

MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos in the United Kingdom have “generally not been affected” by the ongoing crackdown of UK immigration authorities against so-called illegal migrants, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

A local migrant worker group yesterday urged President Arroyo to bring to the attention of the British government the intensified crackdown of illegal migrants by its immigration authorities in the United Kingdom during her two-day visit to the country this week.

At least 170 undocumented Filipino workers stranded under the Khandara Bridge in Jeddah are already set for repatriation, an official said Friday.

MANILA – Around 30 overseas Filipino workers employed as household service workers arrived home from Damascus, Syria.

MANILA, Philippines—Help is on the way. This was the assurance given by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Wednesday to 60 construction workers stranded in the Maldives after their employer failed to pay their wages five months after their arrival in the Indian Ocean archipelagic state.

More than 60 Filipino construction workers have reportedly been stranded in the Maldives for five months without food and water due to non-payment of their salaries, it was learned yesterday.

PETALING JAYA – INDONESIA’S demand that its maids be paid a minimum RM800 (S$326) monthly salary has hit a raw nerve among Malaysians.

MANILA, Philippines—More than 200 Filipino and Asian domestic helpers marched to the Hong Kong Central Government Office Sunday to protest the local government’s decision to peg the minimum allowable wage (MAW) of foreign maids at HK$3,580 (P22,520) a month.

The Saudi Arabian government yesterday urged Philippine medical clinics undertaking medical exams for overseas Filipino workers bound for the Middle East to undertake stricter measures in examining OFWs suspected of having the HIV/AIDS disease.

MANILA, Philippines — Are overseas migrant workers eligible to apply for permanent settlement after five years of continued stay in the United Kingdom even if there are gaps in their employment and stay in the UK due to changing UK migration policies?

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.

MANILA, Philippines — The number of distressed overseas Filipino workers sent home by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the first seven months of 2009 reached over 5,000, a 23-percent jump from the recorded number of repatriated Filipinos during the same period in 2008.

MANILA, Philippines – The government yesterday advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with abusive employers to seek help, not run away from their employers.

MANILA, Philippines—Prospective overseas Filipino workers may now take the required pre-employment orientation seminars in any SM mall nationwide following Monday’s signing of a memorandum of agreement between Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and SM Malls executive Teresita Sy-Coson.

COMPENSATION at least four times bigger than that offered in the Middle East is enticing Filipinos to work in forward operating bases of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan despite the dangers and the ban on deploying them to the war-torn country.

MANILA, Philippines – Migrante International yesterday sought the immediate release of 18 Filipinos who were arrested Friday for being in an illegal “mixed gathering” in Saudi Arabia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) yesterday assured that the fund being maintained by the agency to be used to provide for the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is intact even as amounts of it are placed in investments.

Victims’ families appeal for government’s help MANILA, Philippines—Twenty-three Filipino seamen who were kidnapped five months ago by Somali pirates are now with hardly any food and water aboard their hijacked ship MV Irene, their families said recently.

MANILA, Philippines – Police have detained 10 leaders, members and employees of an overseas Filipino workers’ group in Saudi Arabia on suspicion that they were harboring runaway OFWs who had been charged criminally by their employers.

A senator yesterday said she plans to file a Senate resolution to investigate the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to find out how it spends the funds contributed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now amounting to $11.4 billion.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada yesterday called for the repatriation of 17 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait reportedly not paid by their employer since May this year, leaving them with no money to buy food, thus forcing them to resort to hunting and eating lizards and other stray animals in the Sulaibiya…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) launched the Philippine “ePassport” with enhanced security features that will also facilitate and hasten the entry formalities of Filipino travelers to other countries.