Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Meets with Qatar Officials, Int’l Labor Office Project Office During Her Visit to Doha
Meeting between Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrants Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola (second from left) and Head of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Project Office in Qatar Houtan Homayounour (rightmost). Also seen in the photo joining the Undersecretary are Consul General to Doha Roussel R. Reyes (third from left) and DFA Principal Assistant Rowell Garcia Casaclang (leftmost). (Photo courtesy of Doha PE, OUMWA)
QATAR 02 January 2020 — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrants Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola saw to it that she meets with her counterparts with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA), the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Project Office at the sidelines of her visit to Doha, Qatar on 15-16 December 2019 chiefly to personally assess the situation of overseas Filipinos.
During her meetings with her counterparts, Undersecretary Arriola raised general and specific issues and concerns affecting Filipino migrants in Qatar vis-à-vis developments in the country, especially on the labor front.
On 15 December 2019, Undersecretary Arriola met with Deputy Minister Mohammmed Hasan Al Obaidly of MADLSA. The two officials exchanged views on Qatar’s labor reforms, especially the recently announced complete abolition of the Kafala system. Undersecretary Arriola shared how important the reform was for the Philippines considering that the Philippines had actively campaigned against Kafala by vigorously rallying behind the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration, which was ultimately adopted by the United Nations in December 2018.
During said meeting, the two officials agreed to explore ways to combat Trafficking in Persons through a bilateral mechanism to be threshed out by parties through negotiation.
On 16 December 2019, Undersecretary Arriola met with Director General of Public Security of the MOI Major General Saan bin Jassim Al-Khulaifi and the Head of ILO Project Office in Qatar Houtan Homayounour.
In her meeting with General Al Khulaifi, Undersecretary Arriola requested MOI’s assistance in facilitating the repatriation of “travel-ready” wards who were only waiting for their exit permits from their respective sponsors, to which General Khuliafi instantly agreed. Undersecretary Arriola also pleaded for Royal Clemency on behalf of the Filipino detainees currently serving sentence in Qatar.
Lastly, Undersecretary Arriola had a similar productive meeting with the Head ILO-Project Office in Qatar, Mr. Homayounour. Mr. Houmayounpour agreed to support the Philippines in pushing for a mechanism with Qatar to stamp out trafficking and illegal recruitment activities, affecting Filipino migrants.
Undersecretary Arriola’s visit to Doha was her first leg in a two-week regional travel to various Foreign Service Posts in the Middle East and Africa. END
Meeting between Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrants Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola (left) and Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs Deputy Minister Mohammmed Hasan Al Obaidly (right). (Photo courtesy of Doha PE, OUMWA)
Meeting between Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrants Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola (left) and Major General Jassim Al-Khulaifi, the Director General of Public Security of the Ministry of Interior (right). (Photo courtesy of Doha PE, OUMWA)
For more information, visit https://www.dohape.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinQatar/.