TOWNHALL MEETING. Chargé d’Affaires Elmer G. Cato of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad assures members of the Filipino Community that it would act on their complaints against illegal recruiters who have victimized many of them during a recent townhall meeting in Erbil, capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Andrei Bauzon)

07 August 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in Baghdad urged on August 06 members of the Filipino community in Kurdistan and other parts of Iraq to come forward so that it could assist them in taking the necessary action against the illegal recruiters who have victimized many of them.

The Embassy, at the same time, warned jobseekers in the Philippines against recruiters promising them jobs in Kurdistan, saying a government ban on the deployment of workers to Iraq remains in effect.

Chargé d’Affaires Elmer G. Cato told members of the Filipino community here in Kurdistan’s regional capital that the Embassy is ready to assist them in going after illegal recruiters both in Iraq and in the Philippines.

“We call on our kababayan here in Iraq and in the Philippines who have been victimized by illegal recruiters to come forward and tell us their story,” Cato said. “We are here to help them. They should not be afraid.”

Members of the Filipino community raised the issue during a townhall meeting at the Mar Elias Church that was attended by some of the more than 1,000 Filipinos working in Kurdistan.

Cato was told by some of the victims that they paid huge amounts to cover processing fees for jobs in Kurdistan that turned out to be different from what they were promised. They said the illegal recruiters further exploited them by “selling” them from one employer to another.

Some remain undocumented and have been doing odd jobs in Erbil while others ended up as domestic helpers in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Other victims were never able to leave the Philippines despite paying huge deployment fees.

Cato requested the complainants to provide the Embassy with information that could be presented by the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Interagency Committee Against Trafficking chaired by the Department of Justice.

Cato said Filipino jobseekers should be wary of recruiters offering them employment in Kurdistan as there continues to be a ban on the deployment of workers because of the prevailing security situation in Iraq. END