Syria limits employment of foreigners to 3 years

Foreign workers, Filipinos included, can only work in Syria for a maximum of three years in light of its new and more stringent labor regulation. Nevertheless, the new labor regulation is expected to give added protection to foreign workers in the Arab republic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a release posted on its website. The Regulation of Private Employment Agency for Non-Syrian Domestic Helper, Conditions and Rules of their Employments in Syria, also known as Decision No. 27, hopes to regulate the employment and entry of foreign workers, as well as protect them from abusive employers. Philippine Ambassador to Syria Wilfredo Cuyugan, in a report to the DFA, said the new directive stipulates rules that employment agencies and employers must follow in order to avail of services of foreign workers. “It contains specific provisions regarding the rights of the foreign worker, which include adequate salary and proper method of payment, social security coverage, suitable working conditions, annual leaves, clothing, food, medicine, standard working contracts and other entitlements and benefits," he explained. There are about 6,000 Filipinos, mostly women, working in Syria as housemaids. Under the law, the entry and license of all foreign workers into Syria must be done only through licensed employment agencies. Foreign workers are likewise allowed to work in the country for no more than three years. Cuyugan said agencies applying for a license must secure all pertinent documents from the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Agencies must also pay a certain amount, which will serve as a financial guarantee to pay for fines and/or to repatriate foreign workers in coordination with its Ministry of Interior and Immigration. It will be the employment agency’s responsibility to provide a safe working environment for the worker, settling the worker’s residency fee, and repatriation of pregnant women, the mentally unstable and sick workers, including those with contagious diseases, Cuyugan said. The regulation also contains sanctions, penalties and fines against the employment agency when violations of the labor regulation are committed. Cuyugan added that agencies will be fined 100,000 Syrian pounds for every violation, which may double for every repeated violation, or if the agency fails to repatriate the foreign worker within 45 days upon the termination of the employment contract. Local OFW support organization Blas F. Ople Policy Center said a number Filipino domestic helpers being trafficked into Syria end up being exploited by their employers because of their illegal and vulnerable status. The Center said unscrupulous agents or brokers in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates pass on some of the workers to counterparts in Syria surreptitiously without proper documentation and without notifying Philippine diplomatic officials. The Philippine government has established an embassy in Syria only in 2009.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV