Philippines and UAE Join Efforts to Safeguard Welfare of OFWs

Recently, The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had joined efforts to ensure that the welfare of the migrant Filipino workers were closely looked into.  This is taking into account that there are 600,000 Filipinos working in UAE which more than 100,000 of them were hired as domestic helpers.

In lieu of their objective, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) through Secretary Silvestre Bello III and his counterpart, UAE Human Resources Minister Saqr Ghobash had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to seal their commitment in ensuring fair and just recruitment and to condemn the practice of human trafficking.

Bello said that the agreement which they signed will allow transparency in addressing contract substitution as well.

“With the MOU, OFWs in the UAE will have stronger protection, and the firm assurance from both governments that protection will be the first order of the day,” he added.

With the said agreement, the Philippines vows to ensure that workers who are deployed to UAE had undergone legal procedures prior to employment and thus, should submit themselves in adhering to the laws, policies and the culture to wherever they may be assigned.

On the other hand, UAE should property implement the employment contracts of the OFW and should uphold their rights as mandated by Philippine Labor Code and law on domestic helpers.

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“This includes effective verification of job offers and contracts, and assistance to OFWs in distress by the embassy, consulate, and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO),” DOLE said in a statement.

The recently signed document also provides the Protocol on Domestic Workers as specified in the new law to wit: Treatment that preserves personal dignity and physical safety, due payment and non-withholding of wages, one full day rest in a week, provision for decent accommodation and medical assistance, retention of passport by the worker or any other identity documents and non-payment of costs of repatriation.

With the said Memorandum of Agreement, it could therefore be said that OFWs can now have peace of mind while working abroad as the government has taken its part in making sure that the welfare of the “modern day heroes” is among those being prioritized.