It’s been five months since Social Welfare Attaché Isabel Sy Nillas ended her tour of duty in the UAE and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has yet to field a replacement.
Meantime, the number of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) needing counseling and psycho-social help as well as those needing assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to rise.
“We still recommend that a social welfare attaché be assigned to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to assist the DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in terms of psychosocial services to our nationals in distress,” Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes said.
He added, “These services are not our expertise. That is special work. At this point, we have to rely on the community to help us understand how best to address this concern.”
Vice Consul Marianne Bringas told The Filipino Times in a separate interview that they had requested DFA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola, who heads the department’s Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, during her recent visit to the UAE, for a new attaché.
Nillas returned home back in June. She had under her jurisdiction the whole of UAE and Qatar. Officials said DFA should seriously consider fielding separate social welfare attachés to Dubai and Abu Dhabi considering the volume of work.
Dubai alone has close to 100 “baby cases,” or babies born out of wedlock. It is illegal in the UAE to be pregnant without having been married. Such being the case the consulate has noted a rise in the number of infants abandoned by their unwed Filipina mothers at hospitals after giving birth. Others leave their infants to friends after giving birth to them at the flats.
“This number are those that were reported. There are many more out there who are not yet ready to come forward,” said Bringas.
Abandoned infants are flown home to DSWD for adoption, a recent case in point being “Sebastian,” the baby boy who was abandoned by his Filipina mother at the Universal Hospital Abu Dhabi shortly after delivery late last year.
The embassy had managed to clear all documents for his repatriation.
OFWs jailed for a range of offense as well as OFWs undergoing depression due to homesickness likewise need counseling, officials said.
