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Group Sees Rise in OFW Labor Cases Worldwide

By on June 22, 2010

An alliance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the Middle East said Tuesday there has been a sudden upsurge of incidents of migrant abuse and labor malpractice recorded daily by its various chapters abroad.

“We have been receiving an average of three to five cases daily from previous years. This year though, we have been recording seven to 10 cases daily,” said Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.


Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shirley77/

He further said that group complaints have taken over individual cases. He cited the cases of over 200 OFW nurses stranded in Jeddah, the 17 caregivers in Riyadh, and the 20 bus drivers in Dammam among others.

“What is quite alarming is that OFW abuses are not only confined to Middle Eastern countries but have spread throughout countries like Sudan, Libya, and other African nations. The Philippine government appears to have lost control of the worsening condition of its migrant workers,” he said.

Monterona said the rampant cases of abuse and maltreatment of Filipino migrant workers must serve as an eye-opener to the incoming Aquino administration such that it would consider reviewing the government’s intensified exportation of human labor and put a stop to the country’s dependency on remittances.

Source: Manila Bulletin