Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Rosalinda Baldoz warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) about illegal recruiters of non-existing jobs in Syria.
“It has been reported to me by our labor attaché in Damascus, Mr. Angel Borja, that there are still Filipinos who enter that country under dubious circumstances, meaning, they go there as illegally-recruited migrants. This is most dangerous,” Baldoz said.
Recently, the labor secretary exposed a human trafficking scam in Mississippi in the United States that victimized 23 Filipinos.
According to her, illegal recruiters used the same modus operandi of deceiving prospective job seekers with supposed high paying jobs in the Middle East.
Despite of the continuous campaign and warning against illegal recruiters, DoLE continues to receive reports of workers illegally recruited according to Baldoz.
“Illegal recruiters continue to prey on unsuspecting workers by dishing out promises of fantastic salaries for non-existent jobs,” Baldoz said.
In Damascus, she said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, which only opened in August 2009, has been closely monitoring the entry of Filipinos to the region using Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Kuwait as jump-off points to Syria.
She said it was part of the department’s mandate to monitor OFWs to protect them from abuses and falling prey to white slavery.
She bared that despite the absence of a bilateral agreement with Syria, the POLO has accredited 20 licensed overseas recruitment agencies that are authorized to recruit OFWs for Syria’s emerging oil and gas industry.
Vito Barcelo
No comments:
Post a Comment