The Philippine government, through the Department of Labor and Employment’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (DOLE-AKAP) program has provided one-time financial aid to 46,950 OFWs in the UAE.
OFWs who qualified for the DOLE-AKAP were those who got displaced from their jobs due to the impact of COVID-19. This covers OFWs those who got terminated from their job; those who experienced no work, no pay; and those who experienced at least 25% salary reduction since the start of the pandemic.
Of this number, 31,940 are OFWs from Dubai and the Northern Emirates, while 15,010 others are from Abu Dhabi, according to the data retrieved by The Filipino Times from both Philippine Overseas Labor Offices.
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Both POLO in Abu Dhabi and Dubai began receiving applications in April 2020 and received a total of 128,988 requests from OFWs all over the country.
Out of this total number of applications received, 100,399 were OFWs from Dubai and the Northern Emirates while 28,589 more OFWs from Abu Dhabi and its nearby regions of Al Ain and Al Dhafra requested the one-time financial aid.
Each OFW who was displaced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and applied for the aid received AED730 each or Php10,000.
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The provision of the one-time financial aid to OFWs was staggered since the Philippine government, through the DOLE office, replenished the funds in tranches to provide DOLE-AKAP funds for OFWs all around the world.
In addition, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) also provided AED730 for 1,897 overseas Filipinos in UAE who contracted COVID-19 and applied for a one-time financial grant from the government.
Of this number, 1,369 were from Abu Dhabi, and 528 were from Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
