The Commission on Human Rights and Qatar government have partnered to protect the rights of overseas Filipino workers and their families.
Chairperson Jose Luis “Chito” Gascon and Dr. Ali Al Marri, National Human Rights Committee of Qatar signed a cooperation agreement for the welfare of over 250,00 OFWs in Qatar on work-related complaints.
Gascon said their partnership was a welcome development to advance the human rights protection of every a Filipino worker in Qatar.
Under the bilateral agreement, the Philippines and Qatar came up with 10 areas of cooperation on the improvement of public awareness on human rights principles both for Filipinos and Qataris.
The partnership will cover a term of three years.
Al Marri gave the OFWs the assurance that they could now bring up their concerns not only to the Doha Embassy but also to the National Human Rights Committee.
“[Filipino] Migrant workers can come to us directly. We will take actions to help them [OFWs] resolve their problem,” she said.
CHR was the first national human rights institution established in Southeast Asia in 1987.