The Migrante Middle East said that without providing an alternative to the rising unemployment and lack of living wage in the Philippines, the government will only be putting the lives and livelihood of Filipino migrant workers even more at risk.
By ALYSSA MAE CLARIN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — A migrant group assailed the proposed deployment ban in Kuwait following the recent deaths of two Filipina domestic workers Jenny Alvarado and Dafne Nacalaban.
The deployment ban was proposed by lawmakers while the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said they are considering a deployment ban for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait.
Read:Group fumes at latest OFW death in Kuwait: ‘Abolish Kafala system’
Read: Women’s group calls for justice for slain Filipina migrant worker and model
Even with past deployment bans in place, many OFWs were still trafficked to countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Kuwait. According to the group, thousands of undocumented OFWs were seen in Lebanon despite the deployment ban implemented by the government in 2006.
Migrante Middle East said, “The genuine solution to problems such as the exploitation and abuse of our OFWs abroad lies not in intensifying export of Filipino labor but in generating decent jobs at home.”
To be able to achieve this, the group said the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration should focus on studying and implementing proposals for genuine agrarian reform and development of national industries.
The group further said that without providing an alternative to the rising unemployment and lack of living wage in the Philippines, the government will only be putting the lives and livelihood of Filipino migrant workers even more at risk.
The proposed measure is under consideration by the DMW after a Senate Committee on Migrant Workers hearing on January 21, where chairperson Senator Raffy Tulfo called for a total deployment ban to Kuwait citing the lack of sufficient efforts from the Kuwaiti government in protecting Filipino OFWs.
“We are reviewing our deployment policy and also looking into the welfare of long-term OFWs in Kuwait,” according to DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac last January 22.
“The cycle of OFWs experiencing various forms of rights violations in the Middle East due to war and conflict, economic and political crises, discrimination and violence are only heightening; yet the PH government has neglected to protect many of them each year,” said Migrante Middle East. (AMU, RVO)
