Protection Of Migrant Workers Intensified

There are no accurate statistics on the extent of abuses committed by foreign employers on their foreign workers, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay said on Tuesday.

At the 23rd Conference of the Presidents of Law Associations in Asia at a hotel in Pasay City, Binay said that the documentation and data-gathering are hampered mainly by the lack of cooperation by host countries.

Statistics also do not reflect foreign workers who went through clandestine channels and without authorization do not appear in the rosters of workers of their country of origin.

"Nevertheless, from the sheer volume of overseas workers, it may safely be assumed that the figure of human rights violations could rise to very high levels," said Binay, also Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFWs) Concerns.

Binay is also chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) and chairman of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (PTFAIR).

He assured that the Philippine government is doing its best to protect the interests of its migrant workers.

Binay said that every year, the Philippines deploys more than 800,000 workers abroad with their earnings constituting one of the major contriup by 5.1 percent from the 2011 level," he said.

Binay said that the issues of human trafficking, drug and cross-border crimes, and the globalized employment market are taken seriously "because they relate directly to the core of our efforts to raise the quality of life and the very future of our labor-supplying nation."

"Human trafficking and human smuggling or illegal recruitment flourish in part because destination countries do not complement the efforts of labor-sending countries at combating these twin evils in labor migration," he said.

"They also lack a strong legal mechanism to underwrite recruitment or labor policy that keeps to human rights standards as defined in the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families, the International Bills of Rights and related international instruments," he added.

Binay cited reports made by the International Labor Organization that a large number of migrant workers from Asia were working illegally, especially in the Arab region.

"A report on Asian women’s labor migration mentions cases of abuse against domestics, including long working hours, no days off, restriction on freedom of movement and association, lack of pay, and physical and sexual violations."

"A report on Asian women’s labor migration mentions cases of abuse against domestics, including long working hours, no days off, restriction on freedom of movement and association, lack of pay, and physical and sexual violations."

By JC BELLO RUIZ

MB.COM.PH

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