Loan, credit card payments hound Filipinos in UAE

Loan and credit card payments rank high among the problems of Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a report on The Gulf Today. Migrante-UAE’s legal adviser Allan Reiz Macaraig said that among the loan and credit card defaulters, Filipinos in the UAE are “ready to pay but do not know how," according to the report. “The most practical thing to do is for them to coordinate with the banks and request a restructuring of payments," said Macaraig. “They must exercise due diligence since it is not a simple matter of paying their dues." These finance-related issues, as well as labor and passport concerns, were brought up in Migrante’s seminars in the UAE. Last June, The National reported that Filipinos facing legal problems in the United Arab Emirates would be able to turn to a team of paralegal volunteers for help. The newspaper said a series of paralegal training workshops would start to train Filipino workers on July 1. The training aims to educate Filipinos about their rights, the labor laws, the Filipino Migrant Workers Act, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the report said. “Our main aim is to form the first paralegal team in the UAE, who will make our compatriots understand their cases better," said Nhel Morona, the secretary general of migrant rights group Migrante-UAE. “This team will explain the local laws and ways to address their problems and concerns," Morona said. — OFW Journalism Consortium