DUBAI // The Philippine vice president, Noli de Castro, yesterday assured nearly 100 Filipinas who spent weeks at a shelter after fleeing their employers that he would help them return home to their families, even if they could not be repatriated all at once. "There is a process involved," Mr de Castro said, adding that he would personally follow up their requests for airline tickets and free legal assistance with the Philippine government.
Mr de Castro is in the region to open a new Philippine embassy in Damascus next week and, in his capacity as presidential adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers, made time for a brief visit to the UAE to check on the conditions of the women at the Philippine overseas labour office in Deira. He asked the women yesterday why they ended up at the shelter and told them of the Philippine government's determination to protect its migrant workers, particularly those who are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Of the 96 occupants at the shelter, 38 women have had their visas cancelled. Their passports have been retrieved from their employers, but they need air tickets to return home, according to Filipino labour officials in Dubai. "I was raped and I need a lawyer," said a 32-year-old housemaid who fled her Syrian employer's home in February. She is among four women who said they had been raped and sought help from Filipino diplomats. Three of the women said the men who assaulted them had been arrested.
Some women also said their employers did not pay their salaries, while others claimed they were abused, and were not fed properly. One woman said she was hired as a housemaid but forced to work in the desert to take care of goats, cows and sheep in Fujairah. She was offered Dh1,500 a month but was paid only Dh700, she said. "Their problems are not unique," Mr de Castro said. "These are the common problems of our Filipino workers in the Middle East."
He said that prior to his visit he was briefed by Filipino diplomats in the UAE about the common problems experienced by Filipino workers here. These include contract substitution, mistreatment and the difficulties related to visa and residency status. "You are not merely workers," Mr de Castro reminded the women. "You are ambassadors of your country when you are overseas." He encouraged them to respect the laws and the culture of their host country, and to go through the legal recruitment channels when applying for overseas jobs.
Libran Cabactulan, the Philippine ambassador to the UAE, said he welcomed visits by top-ranking officials from his country because it enabled them to get first-hand knowledge about the extent of the problems faced by migrant workers. "He has the flexibility which I do not have," he said of Mr Castro. "We are hoping our government officials would deliver, and not to only raise expectations and end up with a high level of frustration."
A similar shelter in Abu Dhabi provides refuge to 130 Filipina housemaids, according to Nasser Munder, the Philippine labour attaché in Abu Dhabi. Last July, Jinggoy Estrada, a Filipino senator, provided airline tickets to 30 Filipinas in women's shelters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Manny Villar, another senator, facilitated the repatriation of 35 maids in Abu Dhabi in March and November last year. The president of the Phillipines, Gloria Arroyo, starts a two-day visit to Dubai today. She will attend a work conference and meet members of the Filipino community.
rruiz@thenational.ae
