DFA urged to talk to Lebanon, Syria regarding Demafelis employers


An OFW advocacy group on Monday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to hold diplomatic talks with Lebanon and Syria regarding the extradition of the suspects in the killing of Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis.
In a statement, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute said the swift decision of a Kuwaiti court to sentence the two accused persons to death may only be carried out if both countries agree to release the suspects to Kuwait.
“Extradition can be a complex judicial process and sometimes, politics also may come into play especially when the case involves the death sentence," Susan Ople, head of the policy center, said.
"The DFA through our embassies can engage the governments of Lebanon and Syria through diplomatic channels in talks about Joanna’s case in behalf of her grieving family,” she added.
Suspects Nader Essam Assaf and Mona Hassoun were turned over to Lebanese and Syrian authorities, respectively, after they were tracked down by Interpol in Damascus in February.
Assaf and Hassoun are the primary suspects for Demafelis' death. The OFW was beaten to death and left inside a freezer at the couple's apartment sometime in late 2016, which the suspects abandoned when they fled to Syria.
Ople said there was a zero conviction rate in forced labor trafficking cases in 2017 despite the multitude of news stories on OFW abuse in the Middle East.
In order to improve the chances of OFWs in achieving justice, Ople said the government should look into the case management system of agencies involved in the welfare of OFWs.
"The President has made it clear that we should never tolerate slavery of Filipinos. That should be the marching orders for every diplomatic post, and in all departments concerned with OFWs,” she said.
Ople also asked the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment to identify countries where Filipinos have limited access to justice.
"There is still a lot of work to be done on the anti-slavery front. We need multi-stakeholder review of the Philippine overseas employment program to ensure adequate legal protection and access to justice for all our OFWs," Ople said.
Citing government data, Ople said 1,549 OFWs were subjected to maltreatment and abuse in Kuwait and at least 65 cases of rape were reported last year.
She said the kafala or sponsorship system that puts the visa rights of the employee in the employer's hands a policy that "hinders an abused OFW’s right to seek justice."

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