The problem of our overseas Filipino workers being abused by their employers is nothing new. It has been going on ever since we started to send our womenfolk to work as domestic helpers to more prosperous Arab countries in the Middle East.
Government responses to such incidents, however, have been inconsistent. This is perhaps because the government does not like to rattle a program that brings much-needed foreign currency to the country. But the cost, as we can see, is much too high. Our national pride takes a hit, not to mention the social cost to families that are separated.
The most common response is to bring home the victims and the few cases that were filed were rarely successful. The case of Joanna Dimafelis whose dismembered body was reportedly kept in refrigerator in an abandoned apartment for about a year is only one of several cases involving our OFWs committing suicide because they could no longer stand their abusive employers.
Dimafelis however, was reportedly killed by her employers before they fled to Lebanon.
Here, we are only talking of reported cases. There must be many more cases of sexual abuse that go unreported because the victims are too ashamed to go public.
Finally, President Duterte issued a strongly worded statement and ordered the Department of Labor to repatriate close to 2,200 OFWs in Kuwait who have been wanting to come home. It is about time the government reviewed its policy of labor deployment abroad. Successive governments have always wanted to do this but up to now, have failed to do so.
There was a time when there was even talk of abolishing altogether the deployment of domestic helpers and concentrate on higher skilled labour but up to now, this has not happened. Most of the women deployed to the Middle East are still domestic helpers. Why we keep on sending our women to work as domestics to countries that treat their own women as second-class citizens is beyond me.
In Saudi Arabia for instance, Saudi women will only be allowed to drive a vehicle this year. Is the money being sent home by our domestic OFWs enough to compensate for the loss of honor and dignity of Filipino women and this country?
The Middle East is the wrong place to send our women to work as domestic helpers. Labor laws in many of these countries are not extensive enough to protect our citizens working there. Take the case of Qatar which was chosen to host the World Cup in 2022. Amidst all the construction of all the facilities, the laborers coming from various Asian countries are not being treated and paid properly.
There was also the case of a Filipina domestic worker who was kept as a virtual slave in Jordan for nine years. She was paid only three months out of the nine years that she was kept in the house. She escaped and tried to file a case but the case dragged on until she was deported back to the Philippines.
Multiply this a thousand fold and that gives us an idea of the magnitude of the problem.
Yet, we continue to send our citizens to these countries to become potential slaves thereby contributing to the propagation of slavery that still goes on around the world today. Yes, slavery, that scourge of humanity, is still alive and flourishing around the world in one shape and form. One would think that in the 21st century, slavery would have been completely eradicated. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
According to one Australian NGO, Walk Free, there are roughly 30-million people around the world that are considered slaves. The most number are in the India where there are about 14-million people that are considered modern day slaves.
The following are considered a form of slavery: Domestic servitude, sex trafficking, forced labor, bonded labor, child labor and forced marriage. When our women who work as domestic helpers are forced to surrender their passports, that can be considered as forced servitude.
What is so shocking is the buying and selling of humans as shown in a recent CNN program. There was a video of people bidding for humans in Libya. The economy of the country is growing which means that we must have many labor opportunities here that should entice our women to stay and work here instead of leaving to go to other countries that are admittedly more prosperous but do not have enough laws that can guarantee the protection they deserve from abusive employers.
When we read many of these gut-wrenching stories of our women suffering abuse and torture from their employers, I often wonder what exactly motivates them to leave their families and take their chances in faraway lands with cultures so unknown to them.
Poverty is of course the most common answer. But is the money earned really enough to give up everything here? Often, the promised amount is not what the worker receives but much less. These workers will also have to pay the debts they incurred, plus other fees being demanded by unscrupulous recruiters which will probably take a year or more to pay before the OFW begins to see the fruits of her or his labour. Good if the domestic helper happens to be employed by a decent family, if not, then pity that person.
The solution to the problem is to stop sending our women to work as domestics abroad. If we send our women to China and Russia, we will only be transferring the problem because these two countries are not necessarily better.
