DOLE is considering OFW deployment ban to Saudi Arabia

Based from the statement of the President of the Philippines few days ago, that the existing deployment ban of OFW to Kuwait may extend to other country.

Read about the – President Duterte: OFW deployment ban may expand to other countries

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Tuesday it is now considering to impose a deployment ban in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), amid reports of abuses of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the Arab country.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said he will not hesitate to stop deployment in KSA if it fails to curb the “rampant” abuse of OFWs there.

He issued the statement after receiving reports that some Philippine recruitment agencies are illegally “trading” their hired Filipino household service workers (HSW) through auctions.

“This is a rampant practice, where workers are handed to new employers,” Bello said.

He said their team, headed by Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco A. Lagunzad III, is currently assessing the measure of the Saudi government to address this.

The labor chief said other countries will also face the same review to check if they are providing the protection to OFWs in their jurisdiction.

“If they will not be able to do this, then we will issue a ban there, because the demand of our President is to only deploy in countries where workers a properly and effectively protected,” Bello said.

KSA currently hosts an estimated 2 million OFWs, making it one of the top destination countries for Filipino workers.

Aside from KSA, the team led by Lagunzad also visited Kuwait, where the country has an existing deployment ban, during the weekend.

“So far, they did not find any alarming trend. In fact, they reported a positive trend in our repatriation efforts there,” Bello said.

President Duterte ordered the DOLE to issue the deployment ban after getting reports of the gruesome fate of a Filipina household service worker (HSW), Joanna Demafelis, earlier this month.

Demafelis’s remains were found stuffed in a freezer at her employers home in Kuwait. Her employers—Mona Hassoun and Nader Essam Assaf—were recently arrested in Syria and Lebanon as the prime suspects in Demafelis’s death.

Bello said the ban will remain until the suspects could be held liable and the signing of the Philippine-Kuwait labor bilateral agreement for the protection of Filipino HSWs, which has been pending for two years.

Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/labor-department-eyes-ofw-deployment-ban-to-saudi/