Jordan must sign pact to prevent abuses on OFWs

Philippines - After the deployment ban in Jordan was partially lifted, a migrants’ group urged the Philippine government to ensure that Jordanian employers are held accountable for any abuses they commit against Filipino household workers.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque lifted an eight-month ban on sending workers to Jordan on Thursday after setting a minimum wage of US$400 in hopes of eliminating abuse and exploitation.

Household Service Workers (HSW) who are returning to work with the same employer in Jordan will be exempted from the previous ban.

"Concluding a labor rights' agreement between the Philippines and Jordan is a step forward advancing overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs') rights and welfare," said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East (Migrante-ME) regional coordinator.

Migrante-ME raised concern that without a labor rights’ pact, Jordanian employers might get away with their abuses on Filipino domestic workers.

"This labor rights pact should make foreign employers accountable to their hired HSWs as we’ve made the Arroyo administration accountable to all OFWs sent abroad due to intensification of its labor export policy," he added.

The ban in January was triggered by complaints of nonpayment of wages, mistreatment and rape that prompted hundreds of Filipinos, mostly maids, to flee their employers and seek refuge at a Philippine-run center in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

Jordan's Labor Ministry said in January said about 16,000 Filipinos work in Jordan.

The government had earlier set the same minimum wage for maids in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries, but it caused a drop in demand for Filipino household help.

"Our concern is how the (labor department) would ensure that the employer will respect and honor the provisions of the employment contract it agreed with hired Filipino HSWs," Monterona asked. - MARK JOSEPH UBALDE, GMANews.TV

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