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Human traffickers abuse PH’s repatriation program

DUBAI: In an ironic twist of fate, embassy and consulate officials are caught in a damn-if-you-do-damn-if-you-don’t situation addressing the worsening issue about runaway domestic helps, as the government’s repatriation services are apparently being used by human traffickers to assure victims that they can return home should things go wrong.

“Ina-abuso na ito (repatriation program) ng mga human traffickers. Mga Pilipino ang gumagawa nyan. We need to stop them,” Labor Attaché Ophelia Almenario told The Filipino Times in obvious exasperation. (The program is being abused by human traffickers. Filipinos are doing this illegal operation. We need to stop them.)

Another batch of 63 runaways who came to the UAE on visit visas are being scheduled for repatriation as of press time, it was gathered from Almenario. Just recently, some 48 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) mostly domestic helps, were repatriated to the Philippines by the embassy.

Labor AttachÇ Ophelia Almenario 1
Labor AttachÇ Ophelia Almenario

Five-fold increase

Earlier, The Filipino Times reported that there was a five-fold increase in the number of cases handled by the Philippine Embassy and the Consulate General involving runaway household service workers (HSWs) in 2017 compared to previous years.

Records at the embassy’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) section showed that as of last count on Dec. 25, some 1,500 distressed HSWs have been flown home; in 2016, the number was just over 300.

In Dubai, the figure was hovering at around 1,400. “In my first two years here,” said Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, who is now on his third year’s tour of duty, “now, it’s at 1,400 to 1,500.”

The situation has been such that the number of OFWs taking temporary shelter at the embassy and consulate stays at around 200 with a new batch coming in just as a huge number – 40 or 50 OFWs – have been flown home, officials said.

“Dinadagsa kami,” Almenario said. (The victims are arriving here in huge numbers.)

“Sinasabi sa kanila na pwede kayong pumunta sa UAE na turista at maghanap ng trabaho duon, ‘pag nagkaproblema punta na ang kayo sa kanila (embassy or consulate) at makakabalik kayo,” she said. (They were being told (by the recruiters) that they can come to the UAE as tourists then look for job. If things go wrong, go to them (embassy or consulate.)

‘We have to help them’

“Ang maganda lang nyan ay nakakapag-pauwi kami. We do not encourage them to come here to the UAE on a visit visa.We urge them to go through legal procedures. Kaso, kapag andito na at nagkaproblema nga, we have to help them,” Almenario said.

Several approaches are being done to address the problem that some officials said has come to crisis proportions: In September last year, the UAE and Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in the field of labor-specifically for aid workers.

The memorandum, signed by Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE) HE Saqr Ghobash and Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi.

The memorandum was meant to ensure that domestic helps coming to the UAE went through legal inter-governmental procedures.

Bello has likewise said he will seek a multi-agency investigation in the Philippines to break the spine of a crime syndicate composed of human traffickers and Immigration officials facilitating the recruitment activities.

One Comment

  1. pano po ba matutulungan yung friend ko na inaabuso sa uae…takot po sya magsabi dahil baka kunin na nman yung phone nya wala na syang cintact…biktima daw po sya ng ilegal recruiter

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