More runaways seeking shelter
By EUNICE del ROSARIO
Published: 10th April 2007
LESS than a week since the Philippine Embassy recorded the highest number of workers at its shelter, the number of ‘tenants’ has grown from 83 to nearly 100. An average of three workers ‘run away’ to the shelter, located in Zinj, each day and officials are now afraid the number would keep rising.
All but two of the workers at the shelter are women, said welfare officer Attorney Venus Bravo.
“The male tenants are only two; one worked as a coffee shop supervisor and the other a male nurse,” she said.
“The majority of the workers here at the shelter are housemaids, whose complaints include overwork, unpaid salaries, sexual harassment and physical abuse.
More runaways seeking shelter
By EUNICE del ROSARIO
Published: 10th April 2007
LESS than a week since the Philippine Embassy recorded the highest number of workers at its shelter, the number of ‘tenants’ has grown from 83 to nearly 100. An average of three workers ‘run away’ to the shelter, located in Zinj, each day and officials are now afraid the number would keep rising.
All but two of the workers at the shelter are women, said welfare officer Attorney Venus Bravo.
“The male tenants are only two; one worked as a coffee shop supervisor and the other a male nurse,” she said.
“The majority of the workers here at the shelter are housemaids, whose complaints include overwork, unpaid salaries, sexual harassment and physical abuse.
“There are also those who are undocumented workers, which means that their employers or agencies have brought them to Bahrain on tourist visas – which is illegal.”
The embassy last Wednesday said they recorded 83 workers – the highest number at its shelter so far.
In just five days, the number has gone up to 96.
Many of the housemaids also report that they are being paid BD50 or less, which is already against the Philippine government’s imposed law that all Filipino housemaids must now earn a minimum salary of $400 (BD151), said the official.
The rise in the number of ‘runaways’ have heightened suspicions that more employers have been bringing maids on tourist visas to Bahrain because they do not want to comply with the new minimum wage rule.
The embassy earlier this year sent an urgent call to immigration authorities at all major airports in the Philippines to tighten procedures.
The embassy has also reported a rise in the number of undocumented Filipino workers coming to Bahrain “via irregular channels”.
“Their number is increasing and it’s very alarming,” said Atty Bravo.
A few of the women at the shelter are below the age of 30, the minimum age set by the Bahrain government for Filipino maids. The youngest is aged 17.
They said they flew to Bahrain on falsified passports, which had made up birth dates to hide their real age and identities.
Sources said that employers only needed to pay about BD60 to change a tourist visa into a working one.
“There are also employers who only renew the worker’s visa every three months, which is about BD25 each time,” said one source.
“This really isn’t illegal and is widely practised in Bahrain.
“Even if the worker is interviewed at immigration in the Philippines, he or she just needs to show his or her return air ticket and off they go.
“Once in Bahrain, they just get a refund from a travel agent here since they no longer need to return to the Philippines for the time being.”
Embassy officials are pressing on employers to follow the rules and they are conducting regular interviews with those hoping to hire Filipino maids.
The embassy has received complaints from employers and recruitment agencies since the Philippine government confirmed the new minimum wage late last year.
But officials here say they are only following orders from Manila.
“They need to understand that as an embassy we are only putting into practice what our government has ordered us to do for the protection of our workers,” said labour attaché Alejandro Santos.
“The Philippines is certainly not forcing employers or recruitment agencies to hire Filipino nationals. By all means, hire other nationalities.”
The increase of ‘runaways’ at the shelter may also be attributed to the fact that airlines are now in their busy summer season.
“We are starting to experience difficulty in booking flights to the Philippines for these workers, because the majority of flights out of Bahrain to our country are already full,” said case officer Geoffrey Puy.
© Gulf Daily News