Migrante hits proposed deployment ban to Kuwait as ‘superficial’ move
An organization of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East described the proposed deployment ban to Kuwait as a “superficial measure” that does not address the “root causes of the problem.”
In a statement, Migrante Middle East said that “deployment bans have not stopped cases of OFW deaths, grave cases of maltreatment and exploitation, and even cases of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.”
Migrante issued the statement in response to a call made by Sen. Raffy Tulfo last week for a total deployment ban on OFWs in Kuwait. Tulfo made the appeal during a Senate committee hearing that tackled alleged human rights abuses and the recent death of an OFW, Jenny Alvarado, in Kuwait.
According to Migrante, “even with past deployment bans, many OFWs were still trafficked to countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait.”
“In Lebanon, thousands of undocumented OFWs were seen in the country over the years despite a deployment ban implemented by the [Philippine] government in 2006,” read the group’s statement.
Instead of focusing on deployment bans, Migrante said that the Marcos government should implement measures that will provide long-term jobs to Filipinos in the country. This includes genuine agrarian reform and the development of national industries.
“The genuine solution to problems such as the exploitation and abuse of our OFWs abroad lies not in intensifying (the) export of Filipino labor but in generating decent jobs at home,” the group said.
“Without seriously providing an alternative to its decadeslong labor export program … the Philippine government is only putting the lives and livelihood(s) of our migrant workers and millions of Filipinos at even more risk,” it added.
