Deployment of Filipina maids in UAE on hold

The Philippines has “involuntarily suspended” the deployment of its household service workers (HSWs) to the UAE after the Ministry of Labour (MoL) asked the directors of its labour office departments to not attest or sanction any contracts or conditions set by the embassies regarding domestic workers from June 1.

In circular number 29 dated 26 May 2014, the Ministry of Labour instructed the manpower agencies in the UAE to adhere to the new unified contract model form in hiring domestic helpers.

A few days ago, Philippines labour and employment secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, during a stopover in Dubai after a conference in Milan, Italy, categorically instructed all Philippine labour attachés at the Philippine diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to strictly follow the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) rules and regulations, which follows a “no verification, no processing, no deployment” of Filipino workers policy.

Labour attaché Delmer R. Cruz (in pic) at the Philippine Consulate General said Baldoz renewed her earlier order to the labour attachés to focus on the deployment of highly skilled and semi-skilled workers in the UAE, who are “less vulnerable to abuses”.

“Secretary Baldoz also said the skills of returning domestic helpers can be upgraded from NC 2 to NC 3 ... which is expected to draw compliance from employers to the $400 minimum wage.”

In an interview with Khaleej Times, labour attaché Angel Borja at the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi said the diplomatic missions did not receive any written information from the UAE government about the directive, but they indirectly received a copy of circular number 29 through the manpower agencies.

“This directive was indirectly confirmed to us in a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Ministry of Labour (MoL) on April 22 at MoFA, during which they informed us that a new unified contract would be enforced from June 1,” he said.

New unified contract

He said the new unified contract did not “substantially comply” with the POEA rules and regulations in Manila.

“What surprised us the most is the new procedure to implement the new unified contract, which states that the contract of domestic workers hired by employers in the UAE does not require the attestation of the embassy anymore,” Borja said.

In response, the Philippine diplomatic missions explained to the UAE officials that the absence of verification of domestic workers’ contracts will lead to involuntary suspension of their deployment to the UAE. It was also mutually agreed to further meet on June 4, during which it was emphasised that this was the way forward for both countries. “The UAE accepted the information and expressed a sense of respect to our rules. I think this is where lines should be drawn between the exercise of sovereignty between the two countries,” Borja said.

Under applicable Philippine laws and regulations, any Filipino workers wishing to work overseas must have a valid employment contract to be able to leave the country, which needs to be approved by the POEA. “The POEA, however, only approves contracts verified by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) in diplomatic missions of host countries performing POEA functions,” Borja said.

Purpose of contract verification

The purpose of contract verification onsite is to ensure that the offered employment is available; the employer is capable of paying the specified salary; and the terms and conditions of employment meet the minimum requirements set forth under the POEA rules and regulations. “All of these aim to protect the rights of the Filipino workers,” Borja said.

Under the Vienna Convention of 1961 (Diplomatic Relations) and Vienna Convention of 1962 (Consular Relations), it is clearly stated that in invoking the exercise of sovereignty between the two countries, there should be mutual respect of each other’s domestic laws. “Under the Vienna Convention, we are required to protect the rights of the Filipino workers in host countries without violating the host country’s laws. In the UAE, the matter concerning housemaids do not come under the jurisdiction of the MoL but under MoI, specifically the Immigration Office,” he said.

“It’s not accurate to say that the Polo stopped processing verification ... as it is required under the POEA rules. But, (because) the UAE says the contracts of domestic workers do not need any verification at the embassies, we can only oblige out of respect to the host government. Officially, we have no new hiring of domestic workers now. We (will) just renew those due for annual vacation,” Borja said.

About 224 manpower agencies — 88 of which are in Abu Dhabi and 112 in Dubai — used to come to the Philippine diplomatic missions for contract verification. About 300 contracts of domestic workers used to come from these agencies daily. An estimated 125,000 or 20.8 per cent of 600,000 Filipinos in the UAE are domestic workers. An average of 2,000 or 1,000 each in the Polo in Abu Dhabi and Dubai flee from their employers every year.

“I am confident that the UAE and the Philippines will sit down and draft an MoU that will reflect mutual interests and concerns regarding the household service workers here taking into consideration primarily the rights of the Filipino workers,” Borja added.

lily@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE