Updated on
Summary The Philippines said Wednesday it had banned Filipinos from travelling to work in 41 countries.
Action has been taken against territories that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect Filipinos workers.The Department of Labour and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers.Neither have these countries signed agreements with the Philippines on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers, the resolution said.They also do not have their own laws protecting foreign workers, it added.Included in the list were strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan.Carlos Cao, head of the governments overseas employment agency, said the 41 countries did not receive too many Filipino workers so a ban would not have a very large effect.These are the smaller countries with small markets. The negative impact is not going to be very big, he told AFP.The ban will also not affect Filipino workers who are already in those countries so they will not have to come home until their contracts expire, Cao added.There are an estimated nine million Filipino overseas workers, or about 10 percent of the countrys population, official statistics show.Many of them work as maids, labourers or seamen in areas where they are vulnerable to abuse although many Filipinos also work in higher positions in Western nations.Their dollar remittances have traditionally kept the Philippine economy afloat, although reports of abuse are common.While Manila has in the past banned deployment to some areas locked in conflict, many Filipinos still leave through illegal means rather than take low-paying jobs at home.
