DOLE says undocumented OFWs a tough challenge

Despite intensive repatriation efforts in recent months, the government will be facing a tough challenge protecting those in conflict-torn countries of Libya, Syria and Bahrain since many of the migrant workers there go undocumented, a Cabinet official said Wednesday.

In Syria, for instance, only 837 OFWs are registered with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), according to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

The stock estimate of OFWs in Syria, however, is around 20,000, many of which are female household service workers according to a DOLE report.

"This is a country where we have so many undocumented workers but our OWWA members are only 837," Baldoz said during a press briefing at the First National Labor and Employment Summit.

Under the law, only OWWA documented migrant workers are entitled to repatriation and other benefits during job displacements abroad.

But DOLE's Philippine Labor and Employment Plan (PLEP), set to take effect in the next five years, seeks to protect even the undocumented workers, Baldoz said.

She said the plan outlines a strategy for the protection of OFWs, “expanding social protection for Filipino migrant workers and reviewing the continued deployment of workers to countries that are high- and medium-risk and also deployment in high-risk occupations."

“This strategy is expected to produce the outcomes of ‘universal coverage, expanded benefits, accessibility of social protection, and safe work for all,’ which is laid down in the PLEP," Baldoz added.

The plan highlights a 22-point policy strategy on labor and employment with the goal of investing in human resource to make them more competitive and employable while promoting industrial peace based on social justice.

Currently, the Philippines is among the top sources of migrant workers worldwide, next to China and India. The remittances of these OFWs amounted to nearly $19 million last year, boosting the local economy.

But the Philippines has an existing employment ban on workers to Syria as well as other conflict-ridden nations in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised alert level 2 in Syria, which requires voluntary repatriation of Filipino workers. — JMT/VS, GMA News

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