DFA: Saudis don't have rights over RP passports

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that it is illegal for Saudi Arabian employers to keep the Philippine passports of their workers.

DFA Office of Migrant Workers Affair Executive Director Crescente Relacion said it is illegal to surrender a Philippine passport to a foreigner. He said this in the midst of a suggestion from a human rights group to scrap the sponsorship system in the oil-rich state.

"The passport should only be in the possession of the Filipino worker, not the Saudi employer," Relacion said in an interview with GMANews.TV on Thursday.

A study by the National Human Rights Society (NHRS), a non-government organization based in Saudi Arabia, deemed the existing sponsorship system unreasonable and against Islamic laws.

According to Dr. Bandar Al Hajjar, NHRS president, the four-year study is an attempt to address the problems faced by foreign workers in Saudi Arabia who are forced to surrender their passports to employers.

"[The study] called for canceling the regulation in the current sponsorship system that employees shall get permission of their employers to bring their families, perform Haj pilgrimage, marry, or visit their relatives living in other regions of the kingdom," Dr Al Hajjar told Gulf News.

The NHRS study recommends employers to pay for the foreign workers’ extra work hours. It also includes guidelines to prevent employers from exploiting foreign workers to do other jobs not stipulated in their contracts.

The study was submitted to King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and the Ministries of Interior and Labor. - GMANews.TV

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