19 Syria-based Female OFWs Repatriated

Nineteen Filipino repatriates from Syria arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Thursday night on board a Qatar Airways flight, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Most of Filipino repatriates, all females, were household service workers (HSWs) who expressed their desire to come home to the country due to labor-related issues with their respective employers.

The DFA said this brings the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria to 186 from March to September 29.

The embassy and the Overseas Preparedness and Response Team with a 10-member Rapid Reaction Team (RRT) for Syria continue to conduct intensive negotiations with the Filipino repatriates’ employers for the immediate release of their exit visas, the DFA disclosed.

The RRT arrived in Syria on September 6 as augmentation personnel to the embassy in its effort to repatriate Filipinos in the country.

The team is composed of officials from the DFA, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of National Defense and Department of Interior and Local Government.

Continue reading at Manila Bulletin

90% of OFWs in Syria Undocumented

Ninety percent out of the estimated 17,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Syria are undocumented, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Most of the OFWs in Syria work as domestic workers and are victims of illegal recruitment.

Even as the DFA has raised the alert level to 3, which means voluntary repatriation, many of the OFWs can’t just leave their employers because they are undocumented.

ABS-CBN spoke to “Eleanor” who works as a domestic worker in Syria. Eleanor regrets going to Syria, especially now that her life is in danger.

“150 dollars or P6,000 lang po ang sahod ko pero buhay ko naman ang nakataya,” she said.

Eleanor added she was promised 200 dollars but turned out that her salary was only $150.

She said she is a victim of illegal recruitment just like thousands of OFWs in Syria who now face an uncertain future.

10 commandments vs illegal recruitment

To avoid being victimized by illegal recruitment, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) came out with “The 10 commandments to avoid illegal recruitment”.

1. Do not apply at recruitment agencies not licensed by POEA.
2. Do not deal with licensed agencies without job orders.
3. Do not deal with any person who is not an authorized representative of a licensed agency.
4. Do not transact business outside the registered address of the agency. If recruitment is conducted in the province, check if the agency has a provincial recruitment authority.
5. Do not pay more than the allowed placement fee. It should be equivalent to one month salary, exclusive of documentation and processing costs.
6. Do not pay any placement fee unless you have a valid employment contract and an official receipt.
7. Do not be enticed by ads or brochures requiring you to reply to a Post Office (P.O.) Box, and to enclose payment for processing of papers.
8. Do not deal with training centers and travel agencies, which promise overseas employment.
9. Do not accept a tourist visa.
10. Do not deal with fixers.

POEA Administrator Carlos Cao warned potential OFWs not to fall prey to illegal recruiters and end up being undocumented.

“Dapat, siguruhin na documented sila. Kasi pag nagka-problema, madali silang hanapin ng embahada. Kasi kung di dokumentado, mahirap silang tulungan,” Cao said.

Redeployed repatriates

Continue reading at ABS-CBN News

Legalization of Undocumented OFWs in Syria Urged

A migrant advocate group pushed for the legalization of thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Syria after it hampered the government’s ongoing repatriation efforts in the Middle East country.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Monterona made the statement Friday amid the delays government is now facing in the repatriation of at least 17,000 OFWs in Syria, most of which are undocumented house hold service workers (HSW).
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) earlier said repatriation efforts in the conflict-torn Syria since most of the OFWs in the Middle East country do not have a registered residence, where they are working.

“We have been urging the government even before the upheavals, to work for the legalization, if not repatriation, of undocumented OFWs via diplomatic course of action with the host governments,” Monterona said. “But the PH government, for a long time, had just disregarded the thousands of undocumented OFWs here in the Middle East.”

Continue reading at Manila Bulletin

No Exact Count of Dabawenyo OFWs in Libya, Syria: DFA

Photo Credit: davaotoday.com

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Davao Region on Thursday admitted it does not have an exact count of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Davao holed up in Libya and Syria.

Conegundo Fernandez, DFA administrative officer, said they have no way of knowing how many of the OFWs in Libya and Syria are from Davao because the OFWs usually put Manila as their address in their application or departure forms.

He said it is unfortunate that most relatives of OFWs also do not know where they are working.

“Magadto sila diri kay gusto nila papauli-on ilang mga kaanak, ug pangutan-on na asa dapit nagtrabaho unsa nga kumpanya, dili pud sila katubag (Some come here to request for their relatives’ repatriation but don’t know where their relatives are working),” Fernandez said.

It is important for relatives of OFWs to know the employers’ address and contact numbers, he said.

“Ang mabuhat lang pud namu kay ang i-forward ang mga information na among ma-compile sa Embassy kung asa ang OFW. Na-discuss man na sa Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), naa man gud uban naga-attend dili maminaw, dili mangutana ug dili jud pud mag-attend (What we do is to forward all the information given by the families and it has been discussed during PDOS. There are some who do not listen, some do not ask questions and others do not attend at all),” Fernandez said.

Continue reading at Sun Star

Syrian situation not serious – OFWs

MANILA, Philippines — For many Filipinos in Syria, the situation in that strife-torn country is not as serious as their relatives back home perceive it to be.

“The protests happen only in the streets where there are rallies,” said Sheila Kilay, one of 12 domestic helpers who arrived in Manila from Syria last Thursday.

“The shootings are confined only in Duma and Adra (cities where Syrian government forces have clashed with protesters),” Kilay said. “You’re safe if you’re indoors and you don’t venture out when there is a rally.”

Kilay’s group was the first batch of Filipinos to be repatriated from Syria. They arrive on an Emirates Airways flight via Dubai.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Carmelita Dimzon explained that the group “repatriated, not evacuated.”

“The situation in Syria is still in Level 3, which does not require us to evacuate our countrymen in Syria,” Dimson said.

“We went home because our contracts had expired and we haven’t been issued a new ikama (work permit),” Kilay said.

She said she was willing to go back to Syria once the government allows the deployment of workers again. “My employer assured me he will issue me an ikama if I wanted to return,” Kilay said.

The workers will stay at the OWWA Center in Pasay City where they will be debriefed and undergo the government’s re-integration program.

Returning migrant workers can undergo free training on livelihood programs and take out a P10,000 business loan.

Source Manila Bulletin

PH Prepares Repatriation of 190 OFWs From Syria

The Philippine Embassy said it is already preparing the repatriation of 190 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) because of the ongoing strife in Syria.

Consul Marlon Miranda told dzMM on Sunday they are even ready to pay the employers of the OFWs whose contracts are still standing.

Miranda said not all OFWs have unfinished contracts. This means that their repatriation process would be easier to implement.

Last Wednesday, Ambassador Wilfredo Cuyugan said the Philippine Embassy is doing its best to safeguard all Filipino migrant workers who are based in some restive areas in Syria.

Continue reading at ABS-CBN News

Syria OFWs More Afraid of Lack of Jobs in PHL

Some Filipino workers in Syria are terrified of the hostilities, but they chose to stay because of the lack of job opportunity in the Philippines, a Filipino community leader said today.

“Iyong iba natatakot sila. Gusto na nila talagang umuwi. Iyong iba gusto nilang umuwi pero nanghihinayang sila sa trabaho nila (They are frightened. They want to go home. Some of them want to go home, but they are thinking of their jobs here),” Jackie Casawat, president of the Filipino community in Syria, said in an interview with radio dzMM.

Casawat, meanwhile, assured that all Filipinos working in Syria, particularly those based in Latakia and other critical areas, are safe.

She said that as of now, no Filipinos have come forward to avail of the repatriation offer of the Philippine government.

“Kapag umuwi sila sa Pilipinas, ano po ang magiging trabaho namin? (If we return to the Philippines, are there jobs waiting for us?)” Casawat added.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has raised Alert Level 3 in Syria. Under the alert level, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are advised to seek repatriation that will be funded by the Philippine government.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said yesterday that only four OFWs have asked to be repatriated from the violence-stricken country.

Continue reading at Philippine Star