Qatar Labor Ministry rejects OFWs’ complaints

MANILA, Philippines — Qatar’s Ministry of Labor has rejected the complaints filed some Filipino workers against Woolim-Hyundai Engineering on grounds that their contracts were not valid, Migrante-Middle East said on Tuesday.

John Leonardo Monterona, Migrante Middle East coordinator, said in an e-mail that OFW Gil Lebria and other several co-workers visited the Labor Ministry in the capital city of Doha to formally file their complaints against their employer.

However, ministry officials rejected the complaints because the contracts did not have the required Arabic translation.

"This validates our worries that even the Qatar Labor Ministry would not recognize labor-related complaints from Woolim-Hyundai Co.’s workers because their contracts lack a very basic legal requirement. Now where on earth can the OFWs lodge their complaints?" Monterona said.

Earlier, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Doha confirmed to Lebria that the employment contract he showed to them was bogus. Lebria has demanded a copy of the authentic contract from the POEA.

The Manila-based recruitment agency Batangueño Human Resources Inc. (BHRI), which deployed Lebria and 84 other workers to Doha, said in a statement on March 13 that the contracts it provided the OFWs were genuine.

BHRI showed scanned copies of its certification from the POEA.

Monterona urged the POEA to look into the matter before more OFWs fall victim if indeed a case of illegal recruitment or human trafficking is going on.

On Migrante’s question where the workers could file their complaint, sources from the POEA said the workers can go to the National Labor Relations Commission and file a complaint against the recruitment agency. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV

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