UAE aims to be model destination for OFWs

MANILA, Philippines- An official of the United Arab Emirates hopes his country's initiative to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the pre-employment to the post-employment stages would inspire other countries in the Middle East to do more to protect migrant workers from abusive employers. UAE Minister of Labor Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash said he was optimistic that their pilot project in cooperation with the Philippine and Indian governments would motivate other Gulf countries to accord migrant workers with equal rights and benefits as local workers. “This can be a model that can be adopted by other countries in the Middle East," Ghobash said in an interview in Manila recently. The project was launched in Manila by the governments of India, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and announced at the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila on Oct. 29. Of the Mideastern countries that employ big numbers of OFWs, Saudi Arabia is said to have the biggest incidence of OFWs being abused or maltreated. The others where rampant abuses have been reported include Lebanon and Kuwait. Under the two-year pilot project that begins this month, the UAE government would assist Indian and Filipino workers in the four phases of their overseas employment. “Hopefully this could serve as an umbrella for the protection of all migrant workers in the country," Ghobash added. Some of the notable features of the project include: • Migrant workers would be made to sign employment contracts in the language of the worker (unlike in previous instances where it is written in Arabic); • Migrants would undergo gender-sensitive orientation about the UAE; • Assistance with travel documents and other pre-departure concerns; • Post-arrival counseling; • Monitoring of working conditions including proper wages; • Facilitation of reintegration of the migrant worker in their countries of origin; and • Identification of job and entrepreneurial opportunities for returning migrant workers. Philippine Labor Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz, said the project is a wake-up call for Middle East countries that OFWs are slowly becoming more discerning of their employment destinations. According to Baldoz, despite the fact that countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE are two of the top most destination of OFWs, there are more lucrative and better opportunities provided by Canada, Australia and Italy to migrant workers. In Canada for instance, an OFW could petition his entire family to migrate there after working for two years, she said. “There are better options for OFWs now so the Middle East is up for the competition," she said. According to UAE’s Ministry of Labor there are 304, 241 documented OFWs in its seven emirates— Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. More than 90 percent of UAE’s private sector work force is composed of migrants. No provision on welfare of OFWs on death row Despite securing the rights of OFWs from pre-employment to post-employment, the pilot project does not include any provision on the welfare of migrant workers facing death sentences. Ghobash explained that such provision would be deemed unnecessary. “The ratio of Filipinos committing crimes in the UAE is very low," Ghobash told GMANews.TV, “We don’t want to highlight this in the project." Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrants Advocacy, defended the UAE’s stand saying that the country had always upheld the rights of foreigners who have been convicted. She cited the case of Sarah Balabagan, a Filipina domestic helper, who had been convicted in the mid-90s of killing her employer after a failed rape attempt. “They already have it in their justice system to notify the countries of these migrant workers who are about to face execution, so they are forewarned," Sana told GMANews.TV on Wednesday. So far there are no Filipinos on death row in the UAE.OFWs should be prepared to work in the UAE While the UAE embraces migrant workers, Ghobash advised OFWs who will come to their country to be very certain that they do want to work abroad. UAE, the second top destination of Filipino workers, is one of the Gulf countries where a proposed mandatory psychological testing for domestic helpers is being set. Triggered by the recent spate of cases of runaway Filipino workers who are said to have been unable to adjust to life in the Middle East, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) pushed for the psychological assessment last August. In a recent visit to the country, said OFWs have to be sure of what they’re getting into. “The workers should know what they are coming for, with clear intention that they are willing to work," Ghobash said. The labor minister’s statement came on the heels of fears from Middle East employers who have heard of news of “unstable" Filipino domestic helpers who have killed their employers. Such was the case of Jakatia Mandon Pawa, a 31-year-old domestic helper from Zamboanga del Norte, who has been sentenced by a Kuwaiti court to die after she slit the throat of her employer’s daughter. According to Sana, it is not the OFWs but the employers who should prepare in the arrival of the migrant worker. She said it doesn’t matter how much preparation the OFW undergoes if the abuses that would welcome her in her destination country is something very shocking and new. “The OFWs would be like fish out of water," Sana said. “They leave everything behind that is familiar to them. Sa food palang mawiwindang na sila," she said. - GMANews.TV ________________________________________