Despite the travel ban, Filipinos have kept arriving in Lebanon in groups, sneaking in from various entry points, an officer of the Afro-Asian Migrant Center (AAMC) in Lebanon said Sunday.
Sister Amelia Torres of the Daughters of Charity, administrator for the AAMC, who is in the Philippines for a family visit, said that at least a dozen Filipinos come to Lebanon almost everyday.
In a radio interview with Kakammpi, an organization serving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families, Sr. Torres appealed to the Philippine government to enforce the travel ban to war-torn Lebanon because thousands of Filipinos, especially domestic helpers, need protection from abuses.
She said there are around 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon and 95 percent of them are women because most of the employers there hire only household workers. “Lebanese employers normally lock up household helpers in the house. They confiscate the cell phones and prohibit helpers from talking to friends and to anyone in the neighborhood," Sr. Torres said.
“Most of those who have managed to call the AAMC office for help were gravely abused. The saddest thing is that we don’t have an idea where to find more than half of the 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon because they are undocumented," she added.
Sr. Torres also noted that some recruitment agencies conspire with employers in “victimizing" especially those new recruits, who have no idea about the employment situation in the Lebanon.
Recruitment agents confiscate passports of new hires upon entering Lebanon, and that new hires often have no idea where they will work, Sr. Torres said. Recruiters also skirt around immigration laws. They “tour around" the new recruits to Germany, France, Amsterdam and neighboring countries before finally entering Lebanon.
Sr. Torres also said that even Philippine foreign officials in Lebanon are requesting Manila to enforce strictly the ban because cases of abuses against OFWs, especially the new comers, are common. Abuses range from rape, nonpayment of salaries, severe beating, starving, locking up in houses among others. - GMANews.TV
Sister Amelia Torres of the Daughters of Charity, administrator for the AAMC, who is in the Philippines for a family visit, said that at least a dozen Filipinos come to Lebanon almost everyday.
In a radio interview with Kakammpi, an organization serving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families, Sr. Torres appealed to the Philippine government to enforce the travel ban to war-torn Lebanon because thousands of Filipinos, especially domestic helpers, need protection from abuses.
She said there are around 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon and 95 percent of them are women because most of the employers there hire only household workers. “Lebanese employers normally lock up household helpers in the house. They confiscate the cell phones and prohibit helpers from talking to friends and to anyone in the neighborhood," Sr. Torres said.
“Most of those who have managed to call the AAMC office for help were gravely abused. The saddest thing is that we don’t have an idea where to find more than half of the 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon because they are undocumented," she added.
Sr. Torres also noted that some recruitment agencies conspire with employers in “victimizing" especially those new recruits, who have no idea about the employment situation in the Lebanon.
Recruitment agents confiscate passports of new hires upon entering Lebanon, and that new hires often have no idea where they will work, Sr. Torres said. Recruiters also skirt around immigration laws. They “tour around" the new recruits to Germany, France, Amsterdam and neighboring countries before finally entering Lebanon.
Sr. Torres also said that even Philippine foreign officials in Lebanon are requesting Manila to enforce strictly the ban because cases of abuses against OFWs, especially the new comers, are common. Abuses range from rape, nonpayment of salaries, severe beating, starving, locking up in houses among others. - GMANews.TV
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