Immediate repatriation of distressed OFWs eyed

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with pending complaints against abusive Saudi employers need not languish in governmentrun shelters and may soon be able to come home immediately.

Migrant Workers Undersecretary Hans Cacdac reported that the Philippine government has negotiated for the immediate repatriation of distressed workers who do not want to work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia anymore.

“The repatriation process was among those taken up by (Migrant Workers) Sec. (Susan) Toots (Ople) with the Saudi Minister of Labor. She said the repatriation of an OFW, who has a complaint against a contract or is abused, should be facilitated to allow the worker to go back home,” Cacdac said in Filipino during yesterday’s Laging Handa briefing.

No one should prevent an overseas worker from returning home, otherwise it becomes a form of slavery, he stressed.

Cacdac said there are at least 500 distressed OFWs staying at any given time in government-run shelters in the kingdom, which Ople visited and ordered improved earlier this week. Most of those staying in shelters are Filipino domestic workers.

Of that number, 101 came home with Ople after the Saudi government agreed to their repatriation, which, according to Cacdac, is a manifestation of the shared responsibility that the Philippines and Saudi Arabia governments have agreed upon.

Ople and the OFWs arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 Wednesday night.

Cacdac said also part of the new agreement with the Saudi government is the review of standard employment contract of OFWs so that this would include a provision on salary insurance coverage and an e-wage protection mechanism.

The Saudi government also agreed to allow OFWs who suffered abuse from their employers and were not paid their rightful salaries to pre-terminate their employment contract.