DFA warns vs tourist visas for jobs abroad
Credit to Author: Javier J. Ismael| Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2019 16:15:55 +0000
THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) renewed its warning to Filipinos against using tourist or visit visas to secure jobs overseas.
The warning comes after the DFA reunited 71 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) — who all left the country using visit visas — with their families in the Philippines.
“OFWs without the proper employment documents are more prone to abuses and exploitation abroad. The DFA has been receiving an increasing number of reports about illegal recruiters using a third or fourth country, usually where a visa is not required for
Filipinos, as jump-off points,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola.
The 71 distressed OFWs from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived in Manila at 8:40 a.m. on Friday. They were accompanied by Consul General to Abu Dhabi Marford Angeles.
The DFA, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, shouldered the Filipinos’ airfare to Manila, cost of processing of exit visas, and maintenance and operating costs of government shelters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Some 106 distressed OFWs from Abu Dhabi were also repatriated in October.
The Foreign Affairs department explained that some Filipinos were employed abroad using short-term visit visas, as illegal recruiters and traffickers would promise them working visas upon their arrival.
The OFWs, however, only ended up overworked and maltreated, with their employers violating their employment contracts.
The DFA said it was working with partner agencies in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.
As per data from the DFA, more than 5,000 OFWs have returned home from the UAE since January 2019.
In 2018, 5,832 OFWs were repatriated from Dubai, while 3,533 returned home from Abu Dhabi.