New warning over illegal maids
By EUNICE del ROSARIO
Published: 20 March 2007
A GROWING number of teenage Filipinas being flown to Bahrain illegally to work as housemaids has prompted a new call for employers to be vigilant.
The call was issued by the Philippine Embassy, which says illegal recruiters are continually ignoring and breaking the laws of both the Philippines and Bahrain.
According to the law, Filipina maids coming to work here must be at least 30 years old.
“The agreement between the Philippines and Bahrain is that housemaids must be at least of 30 years to work in the kingdom,” explained embassy assistance-to-nationals officer-in-charge and consular attaché Ramon Nerida.
New warning over illegal maids
By EUNICE del ROSARIO
Published: 20 March 2007
A GROWING number of teenage Filipinas being flown to Bahrain illegally to work as housemaids has prompted a new call for employers to be vigilant.
The call was issued by the Philippine Embassy, which says illegal recruiters are continually ignoring and breaking the laws of both the Philippines and Bahrain.
According to the law, Filipina maids coming to work here must be at least 30 years old.
“The agreement between the Philippines and Bahrain is that housemaids must be at least of 30 years to work in the kingdom,” explained embassy assistance-to-nationals officer-in-charge and consular attaché Ramon Nerida.
“The Philippines recently reduced the minimum age of housemaids from 25 to 23, but the minimum age of 30 still applies to Bahrain.”
He said more and more teenagers, some as young as 15 and most hailing from remote villages in the Philippines, have been arriving in Bahrain to work for families.
They manage to travel on fake passports, issued using falsified birth certificates stating that they are twice their real age.
The embassy’s shelter in Zinj is currently housing two 17-year-old girls. Both of them admit to obtaining fake passports in Manila with the help of illegal recruiters.
One of them, whose identity is being protected by the embassy because she is still considered a minor, told the GDN yesterday that she wanted to find work overseas and “recruiters” in Manila said it was easy to get fake passports for a fee.
“I dropped out of high school and wanted to earn money, so I thought I would apply to work as a housemaid overseas,” she said.
“My parents didn’t approve, but I went ahead anyway and got the fake passport, which states that I am a 28-year-old.”
She arrived in Bahrain over a year ago to work for a Bahraini family of eight in A’ali.
At the time she was only 16 and had never been out of the Philippines or away from her family.
“Three of my employer’s six children were all close to my age,” she said.
“They knew I looked young, but they never questioned me about my age.
“They didn’t care as long as I worked hard.
“(My age) was never an issue to them.”
She earned BD50 a month, even though her contract stated that she should earn BD55.
She ran away last Friday to the embassy after a fight with her employer’s eldest son.
“He accused me of stealing BD20 and they returned me to (the manpower agency) that brought me to Bahrain,” she said.
“The agency soon sent me back to my employers. After that, I ran away,” she said.
Despite her experience, the maid said she would still want to stay in Bahrain and look for “better employers”.
“I don’t want to return to the Philippines yet because what am I going to do there?” she asked.
When officials suggested she return to school, the girl simply shook her head.
“I want to work and earn money. I think I can do that here in Bahrain,” she replied.
But officials said she would have no choice but to return home to her parents and four brothers and sisters in Caloocan City as soon as her case is settled here.
“She has no choice in the matter, she has to return to the Philippines,” said Mr Nerida.
“It is sad this girl doesn’t realise the predicament that she is in. This is what we are trying to avoid here in Bahrain, but unfortunately there is a huge problem in the Philippines, where illegal recruiters constantly prey on young girls because they do not know any better,” he said.
The majority of the maids brought to Bahrain illegally are inexperienced when it comes to working in a foreign household.
Bahraini families then risk getting maids that are untrained if they rely on recruiters that are not accredited by the embassy.
“What they are getting are children, who are very vulnerable, and employers are literally being cheated by illegal recruiters, who pose as legitimate manpower agencies,” labour attaché Alejandro Santos said.
In March last year, the embassy helped a 19-year-old Filipina maid who was raped by her Bahraini employer.
The employer was arrested, but was soon released after the maid agreed to a BD3,000 payoff to drop the case before leaving the country for good.
In November last year, the embassy sent home two teenagers – one aged 15 and the other 17. Both girls claimed to have been mistreated by their employers. They were able to settle their cases in Bahrain and returned to the Philippines in December last year.
The embassy said there could be more teenaged Filipina maids in Bahrain, but that only a few have come forward to seek assistance.
© Gulf Daily News