31 March 2014 -  In response to the request of the Filipino communities in Tanzania, the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi conducted its first Mobile Consular Services for 2014 on March 1 in Dar Es Salaam and on March 2 in the semi-autonomous island of  Zanzibar.

More than 60 people availed of various consular services such as renewal of passports, legalization and authentication of documents, registration, and legal consultations.  The team also held consular consultations with the members of the Filipino community.  

In Zanzibar, the Embassy representatives paid a courtesy visit on officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania to seek information and clarifications on consular-related issues for the improvement of consular services.   They also made a similar courtesy visit to the officials of the Commission of Labor under the Office of the President of Tanzania in order to inquire about labor and immigration laws of the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar and to brief them about important Philippine government rules and regulations to follow on the recruitment of Filipino workers.

Zanzibar labor officials also expressed interest in learning from the Philippine experience in alternative dispute resolution of conflicts between employers and employees in the Philippines and the creation of special “labor courts” under the National Labor Relations Commission.

There are around 300 Filipinos living and working in Dar Es Salaam and in Zanzibar.  Most are civil and electronic and communications engineers, hotel and casino workers, managers and accountants. END