Migrante wants OFW hosts to ink rights pact

To make the second Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in October meaningful, a group of overseas Filipino workers has asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to convince participating countries to sign and ratify the United Nations Conventions on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Their Families.

In a statement sent to GMANews.TV via e-mail, the Saudi Arabia-based Migrante International said the GFMD hosting of the Philippines will be useless if most of the host countries of OFWs will not adopt or honor the UN resolution.

“We challenge the government to push countries especially those that host large concentrations of OFWs and have numerous cases lodged at different Philippines Embassies for violating OFWs rights and welfare to attend the forum," said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante ME Regional Coordinator in Riyadh.

“We also want them to sign and ratify the UN resolution for the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families," said Monterona.

According to him, Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain should be represented in the October forum.

The UN resolution was set into force on March 14, 2003 and 20 countries have ratified it.

The Philippines is one of the 20-country signatories of the document.

“The ratification of UN resolution is necessary so that host countries of OFWs would comply to obey and implement the provisions of the UN resolution," Monterona said.

For his part, Andrew Ociones, Migrante-Jeddah chairman, said that the migrant group is looking for a substantial accomplishment of the government and not just mere publicity stunts in GFMD.

“Or otherwise, we will conclude to believe that the Arroyo [administration] is merely proposing a marketing scheme to participating countries with the objective of intensifying its labor export program, selling our professionals and skilled workers like cheap commodities for export without protections for their rights and welfare," he said.

Last week, the Philippine government imposed an indefinite ban on the deployment of new workers to Jordan after 120 to 150 OFWs, mostly household helpers, fled from their employers because of abuses, including rape and non-payment of wages. - GMANews.TV

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