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Visit visa for Filipinos coming to UAE to be tightened soon

The UAE and Philippine governments are holding dialogues to sign an agreement that would address the misuse of the visit visa program, Ambassador Constancio R. Vingo, Jr. told The Filipino Times.

The two governments are now talking to address this problem,” said Vingno.  “And hopefully,  in a month’s time, siguro… a labor agreement will … hopefully be signed between  the Philippines and the UAE to address the problem of (jobseekers) coming over (to the UAE) with visit visas,” he added.

‘The two governments are now talking. In a month’s time, a labor agreement will hopefully be signed between the Philippines and the UAE to address the problem of (jobseekers) coming over (to the UAE) using visit visas.

The ambassador was referring to reports about a syndicate in the Philippines trafficking Filipino jobseekers to the UAE by facilitating their entry using visit visas.

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The victims, Vingno lamented, more often than not, end up as household service workers and run away from their employers because they were not prepared for it.

“They come on visit visas and then they go to an agency, then they are brought to an employer without  realizing they are going to be maids; some of them  were teachers whose plans were to be tutors, or salesladies or clerks in an office,” Vingno said.

He added, “There are people who bring them here from the Philippines. These people have contacts here. We don’t know who. They (jobseekers) are not the ones doing it for themselves; there is a group that does that, they take care of everything, including passports.”

Vingno said the human trafficking syndicate “invests” on the plane fare and travel papers of the would-be victims. “Hindi naman siguro aabot ng Dh6,000 (It couldn’t cost Dh6,000).  So that’s their investment, then they refer them to recruitment agencies, which are, by the way, legal business entities,” the ambassador further explained.   

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Vingno said that with the agreement,  “this will not be the case anymore because all recruitment will fall under the UAE Ministry of Labor for the OFWs to have protection.”

“If something happens to the OFWs, there is a counterpart agency in the Philippines that we can run after,” he said, adding that the proposed agreement cuts across all nationalities in the UAE.

Interaction

Vingno said the proposed measure was a result of a “series of developments… interactions; not necessarily formal negotiations but courtesy visits and  consultations with the embassy.”

It was gathered that Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello, III will be in the UAE for the signing.  

“All negotiations and signing of treaties are coursed by the Department of Foreign Affairs but the signatories can be the secretary of another agency. In this case, it’ll be the secretary of labor  as it’s  a labor cooperation, memorandum of understanding,” Vingno said.

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Runaways

As a result of the human trafficking activities, officials noted a spike in the number of runaways in recent months.

There were 517 runaways taken in at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) at the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) from January to June 30 this year, according to Labor Attaché Felicitas Bay.

The were only 192 during the same period last year – a 169% increase – she said.

“All arrived with visit visas,” the labor attaché said, adding that there were at  least three classifications: 1) those who entered with a “contact.” 2) those referred to a “contact.” 3) those who were just trying their luck.

“Mayroon nga, nakilala lang nya sa Facebook yung tao at nag-ipon na ng pera para makapasok sa UAE. (There was even one whose contact she met only on Facebook),” Bay said.

Bay added there were those known in their neighborhood back home to have been able to send people to the UAE. “Kumalat sa barangay na nakapagpapadala,” she added.

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Asked if she thinks there is an organized group also facilitating the trafficking, the labor attaché  said,  “I would say yes. Pag tinanong mo sila (When you ask the victims) they would only give first names – some because the recruiter actually did it in good faith; others because there were threatened by the recruiter).”

Bay said POLO-OWWA would usually have from 89 to over 100 wards awaiting repatriation at any given day.

Meantime, the Philippine Embassy’s Vice Consul Anna Guerra, who heads the mission’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) desk, said they were able to repatriate some 366 runaways from January this year.

Vingno said they have been repatriating  an average of 50 a week.

“Just last week, we repatriated 48. Ilang months na ‘yan since April, May, June hanggang ngayon. (It’s been going on for months),” he said.

box in pix Crissy Geronimo e1503555289101
First-time visit visa jobseekers have less chance vs those with ‘local experience’

As most employers in the UAE prefer hiring those who already have the experience working in the country, “freshers” or first time visit visa holders seeking employment  actually do not stand a good chance getting their preferred jobs compared to those who have lost theirs, have exited and are back looking for new ones while on visit visa as well.

This according to UAE-based recruitment companies who said that such being the case, “freshers” end up “grabbing what’s available” instead of going home empty handed, which also makes them vulnerable to employers who bargain hard for a low entry salary level.

“Mostly ang hinahanap ay yung may experience na dito. Dahil sa sobrang dami na ng tao dito on visit visa at maraming ka-kumpitensya, hindi lang sa Filipinos, maging sa ibang lahi rin,  di sila nakakakuha ng office jobs or kung anuman na related sa qualifications nila,” said Crissy Geronimo, assistant manager for client relations at the Abu Dhabi-based Nadia Recruitment.

“Tapos,” she added, “yung iba walang kamag-anak dito or kakilala, so gina-grab na lang kung ano meron since ayaw naman nila na bumalik sa Pilipinas ng walang trabaho. Most of them, babayaran pa yung pinang-punta nila dito sa UAE.”

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