Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz, announced that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued a resolution that lifts the deployment ban of Filipino workers in Lebanon and Jordan.
Baldoz said, “The POEA governing board has agreed to lift the temporary suspension of deployment of newly hired household service workers (HSWs) for the Kingdom of Jordan.”
She added, “This means the deployment ban to Jordan is now 100 percent lifted and our workers there can now return home, and we can also send newly hired workers there,” Baldoz said.
The rise in the number of abuse reports against Filipino household service workers (HSWs) in Jordan prompted the Philippine government to implement a deployment ban years ago. However, the ban left many aspiring OFWs with no choice but to go to Jordan as undocumented workers. There are supposedly 23,000 OFWs in Jordan and almost 90% of them are not legal OFWs.
The deployment ban also made it hard for many HSWs to return to the Philippines for a vacation because they are worried that they would not be able to return to their jobs.
In the case of Lebanon, Baldoz shed light on reports that the POEA governing board only partially lifted the ban. This means that only returning workers will be allowed deployment and not newly hired workers.
Baldoz explained, “The POEA decided on partial lifting in Lebanon because we are still awaiting the completion of the negotiation for a new standard employment contract for HSWs. But at least, our workers legally deployed before the ban took effect several years ago can now go home for a vacation.”
She further explained that POEA would allow returning OFWs to go back to Lebanon if they can present a contract from their Lebanese employers that follow the Philippine reporm package for HSWs.
“As long as their employment contracts comply with the our reform package which provides for a minimum monthly salary of $400, we will be allowing them to return to Lebanon. But the treatment for undocumented workers or those without contracts would be different,” the Labor Chief said.
Prevailing hostilities in Lebanon is the reason why a deployment ban was imposed years ago. Currently, there is an estimated 25,000 OFWs in Lebanon.
