Manila: To ease the plight of Filipino migrant workers who fled the conflicts in Yemen and Libya, the government has said it is working on arrangements where those who lost their jobs would be given priority in hiring in other countries.
Labour Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said her department is trying to find ways to ensure overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were displaced by conflict are given hiring priority in similar jobs abroad.
Safety and security concerns in Yemen and Libya prompted the Philippine government to call on OFWs there to immediately leave and return home.
While the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said a number of the OFWs have already returned to the Philippines, some still chose to remain abroad due to fears that they would be unable to find jobs back home.
Most OFWs are breadwinners and their families depend on them.
Baldoz said OFWs need not fear being repatriated.
“Our ‘repatriation to redeployment for re-employment plan’ guarantees the security as well as the economic welfare of our OFWs,” she said.
She said the government needs to quickly respond on this issue to ensure the safety of Filipinos in Yemen and Libya.
“The DOLE [Department of Labour], POEA pPhilippine Overseas Employment Agency], OWWA pOverseas Workers Welfare Administration], and the DFA is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the well-being of our OFWs,” she said.
Reports reaching Manila said some OFWs in Yemen and Libya are apprehensive about leaving the countries that had hosted them because they would find it difficult to get employment that provides them with good pay. Others cannot leave because their employers are forbidding them or had offered them higher salaries. But Baldoz said for whatever reasons, the OFWs should bear in mind that their safety comes first, after all it is the government that gets blamed whenever migrant workers are caught in difficult situations
She said the redeployment scheme is a workable option for the OFWs’ re-employment, aside from returning home.
She added that most of the OFWs based in Libya are semi-skilled, skilled and professional workers in the construction and healthcare sectors.
“The workers in the construction industry that will be displaced or repatriated from Libya and Yemen can be assisted/referred for re-employment in other regions mainly in Asia and the Middle East,” she said.
She said the government is working to secure jobs for displaced OFWs in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Singapore, Canada, Iran, Algeria, Malaysia, Kuwait, Oman, among others.
