If only they can stay home

More than a thousand of our Filipino migrants in Saudi Arabia have expressed their desire to return home to the Philippines. Life abroad is not easy at all. While the glitter of higher income and traveling, among other reasons, attract millions of people to work abroad (more than 232 million), challenges also abound including the sad reality of death for a number of migrants.

Work-specific problems are known like unreasonable long hours of work, unpaid and/or insufficient wages, no clear written contracts, flying booking (migrants are made to work in places not specified in the contract) and more. Gender-age specific challenges have been well-documented. Rape, violence, trafficking, abuse and more continue to be reported frequently.

Destination-specific problems exist like cultural, religious, and language differences, or distance from embassies and consulates in case of emergencies as examples.

Our people have been migrants for decades now.In almost every country in the world, you can find Filipinos. Our people do work as nurses, teachers, domestic workers, caregivers, unskilled workers, computer programmers, professionals and more.

Our migrants, both local and global, continue to support their own households. Many of them have been sent to school, a number to very expensive private schools even. Most graduated and moved on to good jobs in the Philippines and

‘Abroad, many of them have been asked, often with much prejudice and derision why

they are not back in the Philippines. Especially when they run for help against abuse, violence and other problems,

from some few locals, they receive so much discrimination

and insult instead.’

abroad. Others became too dependent on the remittances of their migrant members–they lost their own drive to be independent. Migrants have tried to support the other needs of their families. Migrants have provided houses and lots, capital for...