DFA, DOLE urged to look into ‘maid auction’ of OFWs in Saudi Arabia


Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to look into the "maid auction" involving Filipino domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement, De Lima said OFWs in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah have been complaining of employers who trade their Filipino maids to highest-bidding foreign employers for several years now.
One such case involved a Filipina who absconded from her employer in Riyadh after she learned that her Saudi employer sold her to another employer in Dammam for 24,000, riyals.
De Lima said it may also be time for the DOLE and DFA to review the Philippines' bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia that was signed in 2013.
“We may need to review the agreement which we entered with Saudi Arabia five years ago to check whether Filipino HSWs are properly accorded their right and are not subjected to modern-day auctions, as if they are mere commodities,” De Lima said.
The bilateral agreement was designed to protect Filipino workers by ensuring that the Saudi government checks the authenticity of their employment contract and settles labor contract violation cases.
Rights to paid vacation, non-withholding of passports and work permits, free communication, and humane treatment were also provided for in the bilateral agreement.
De Lima, who filed a Senate bill to redefine illegal recruitment in 2016, also called on private recruitment agencies and their foreign counterparts to strengthen their monitoring of the OFWs they deployed.
“The private recruitment agencies should check on the condition of the Filipino workers they have sent abroad, especially in Saudi Arabia, to ensure that they are safe and do not fall victims to human trafficking or slavery,” she said. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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