Seven to ten overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are abused or maltreated every day on average in the Middle East, Migrante said Sunday as it appealed to the incoming government to thoroughly review the Philippines’ labor export program.
During the past six months of this year, Migrante said there was a “sudden surge” in the number of abused OFWs not only those based in the Middle East but even in Sudan, Libya and other African countries.
“We used to receive an average of 3 to 5 cases daily until recently when the daily average shot up from 7 to 10,’’ John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional director, said in a statement.
“This is very alarming. The number could even double at the end of the year,’’ he said.
Apart from the increased daily average in OFWs abused, Migrante records indicate that complaints of labor malpractices are no longer reported as an individual case but in groups.
Among these cases were the 200 OFW nurses in Jeddah, 17 distressed and stranded caregivers in Riyadh, and the more than 20 trailer drivers in Dammam, all in Saudi Arabia, who were allegedly victims of labor malpractices.
Some workers in Kuwait have to deal with living quarters like this. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40135332@N08/
Monterona appealed to the incoming administration to re-evaluate the government’s labor export program and ensure that all distressed OFWs, particularly those staying in various Filipino Workers Resource Centers are given utmost attention.
While Migrante’s record of abused OFWs already appears big, the real figure could even be higher as some cases of labor malpractices are yet to surface, he said.
Monterona said that the intensification of human labor could deteriorate the quality of OFWs.
Migrante also sought from the government to stop the local economy’s dependency on OFWs remittances, while saying this was used as a milking cow by government officials. Last year, OFWs sent P17 billion in remittances.
The group reiterated that the best alternative to end the ill effects of forced migration is still the implementation of genuine agrarian reform program and nationalization of the country’s basic industries.
“This will serve as backbone of the Philippine local economy towards economic development like what developed neighboring countries have started,’’ it said.
Source: Tempo
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