Sponsorship system unfair, anti-Islam - study

Over 100 Filipino workers are seeking refuge at the Philippine consulate in Jeddah after running away from their employers in Saudi Arabia. They are hoping the government can help repatriate them to Manila. GMANews.TV file photoMANILA, Philippines - A human rights organization in Saudi Arabia has recommended abolishing an existing labor practice where employers keep the passports of their foreign workers.

The National Human Rights Society (NHRS) study deemed the existing sponsorship system unreasonable and against Islamic laws, online news site Gulf News reported.

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 president claimed that the society received 12,369 complaints from foreign employees between 2004 and 2007.

The existing system, Al Hajjar said, had some provisions that are contrary to the principles of the Sharia, the body of Islamic religious law, and international human rights laws.

Under the sponsorship system, Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia cannot change jobs or leave the country without permission from their sponsor.

He added that the Saudi Arabian government and the Gulf Cooperation Council, a region-wide trade bloc, want to scrap the system.

"The highest Saudi authorities had taken a decision to constitute a ministerial panel to review the sponsorship system as early as 1999. However, ... the decision is yet to be implemented," Al Hajjar said in the interview.

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.

Freedom from slavery

Migrante – Middle East, an overseas Filipino workers (OFW) group, said it welcomed the recommendation to abolish the sponsorship system which it claimed "emanated from the old social system of slavery."

"[Once abolished, a new system] would give leeway and freedom to expatriate workers in terms of travel and the opportunity to change and look for a better job," said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante – ME regional coordinator.

According to Monterona, OFWs often run away from their employers after not receiving any vacation leaves despite completing their two-year contract.

The group said that aside from Saudi Arabia, calls for the abolishment of sponsorship system received widespread support in Bahrain, Kuwait and the rest of the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Monterona is urging the Philippine government to highlight this concern in the upcoming 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila. - GMANews.TV

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