PHL Embassy in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Repatriates 81 Distressed Overseas Filipinos

Philippine Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Constancio R. Vingno Jr. meets the 81 distressed OFWs before their repatriation at the Philippine Embassy, Abu Dhabi. The above OFWs are mostly tourist visa holders when they entered United Arab Emirates. They are victims of illegal recruiters and have left the employ of their sponsors/agencies due to maltreatment, poor working conditions, detention, and non-payment of salaries.

06 April 2018 ABU DHABI – The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) repatriated 81 distressed overseas Filipinos on April 05. 

Philippine Ambassador to the U.A.E. Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. and Assistance-to-Nationals Head Third Secretary and Vice Consul Von Ryan G. Pangwi joined the repatriates in their flight back to Manila via the Philippine Airlines flight, which will arrive in Manila in the morning of April 06. 

Since January 2018, the Embassy has repatriated 459 Filipino nationals, who are mostly victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment. In 2017, the Embassy repatriated 1,491 distressed Filipino nationals.

With the signing of the U.A.E. Law for Domestic Workers and the M.O.U. on Labor Cooperation between the Philippines and the UAE in June and September of last year, respectively, the Embassy hopes that incidents of abuse, maltreatment, detention, and other complaints by Filipino Household Service Workers (H.S.W.s) will be minimized.

The U.A.E. Government has also implemented measures related to ensuring and enhancing the rights of H.S.Ws in the U.A.E like the transfer of jurisdiction of H.S.Ws from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) to allow them rights on dispute resolution, as well as the opening of Tadbeer Centers which will conduct recruitment of expatriate workers seeking to work in the U.A.E. and will thus assure that the rights of the said workers will be protected as mandated under the new U.A.E. Law for Domestic Workers. END

For more information, visit www.abudhabipe.dfa.gov.ph or www.facebook.com/PHinUAE.