48 distressed OFWs return home from Riyadh

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
08/25/2009 | 07:36 PM

Forty-eight more Filipino household service workers who have escaped from their employers in Saudi Arabia returned to the country on Monday.

The workers arrived in Manila from Riyadh at 11 a.m. Monday via Gulf Air flight GF 154, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said.

OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said most of the workersd carried only temporary travel documents issued by the Philippine Embassy because they were unable to get back their passports.

Foreign employers are known to hold on to the passports of their expatriate workers as a measure to prevent them from switching to other employers or workplaces.

Dimzon said the workers left their jobs for various reasons, including difficult working conditions, maltreatment and abuses.

“Some of the returning workers complained of physical and sexual abuse, while others reported that their employers did not pay them the salaries agreed upon. Still others said they were forced to work beyond the stipulated working hours, not fed properly or were left hungry for several days," she said.

Dimzon said OWWA’s Repatriation and Assistance Division is assisting the workers in returning to their respective provinces. It is also preparing the needed documents for those who intend to file formal complaints against their employers or erring labor recruiters.

Officials have said the increase in number of distressed overseas Filipino workers is to be expected as the number of OFWs also continue to increase.


Consul General Ezzedin Tago, head of the Philippine Consul General in Jeddah, earlier said a total of 1,689 “distressed" Filipinos have been repatriated this year from Saudi Arabia, which employs an estimated 1.2 million OFWs.

Tago has said 185 others were awaiting deportation since June. The number does not include runaways and overstayers who are seeking to return home via the so-called “backdoor exit."

In 2008 alone, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) brought home a total of 5,540 distressed OFWs from various countries, mostly domestic helpers in Middle Eastern countries and Asia.

Philippine labor officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also noted a 20-percent increase in the number of Filipino domestic helpers fleeing from their employers so far this year. -GMANews.TV