OFW Carlo Dayrit Jose, in his late forties, has been imprisoned in Jaw prison, Bahrain’s central jail. He was convicted on the murder of OFW Maricel Garduque in 2000 after a heated argument broke out between them resulting in the woman’s killing.

As per court records, in the same year he has also been diagnosed with Psychological schizophrenia.

According to Bahrain’s Daily Tribune news reporter Mr. Roberto Carillo, OFW Jose is currently ‘the only Filipino to ever receive a life sentence from a Bahraini Court.’ Mr. Carillo conveyed OFW Jose’s pleading for assistance to John Leonard Monterona, Saudi-based Migrante-ME leader.

“I was informed that in 2010, OFW Jose obtained a letter of forgiveness from the mother of the victim in the Philippines and this was forwarded to the Royal court for appropriate action but until now nothing happened,” said John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator.

Monterona said OFW Jose has been expecting that he will be released then since he obtained a written forgiveness from the kin of the aggrieved family by virtue of a Royal pardon which the Bahraini Royal family grants every year.

Speaking to Daily Tribune’s Carillo, OFW Jose said, “Almost two years and ten pardons have already passed since the forgiveness letter has been given to the Royal Court. Every time, my hopes are up that I will be included in the distribution of the royal pardons.”

Monterona calls on the Aquino III administration through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the PH embassy in Bahrain, and to Vice President Jejomar Binay, presidential adviser on OFWs concerns, to attend and closely follow the application of OFW Jose’s inclusion in the upcoming Royal pardon.

“We came to know that the Bahrain Royal family will issue a pardon this coming February 14, 2012. We are more than happy to see OFW Jose be included in the February 14 pardon grant by the Bahrain Royal family and eventually be released from prison and reunite with his family in the Philippines to start a new life,” Monterona added.

OFW Jose sent us an open letter, as stated below, which he hopes would reach His Majesty the King of Bahrain.

Your Majesty,

My name is Carlo Dayrit Jose, a Filipino national with CPR number 640538720 sentenced to life imprisonment in May 28, 2002 by the higher criminal court for the unpremeditated murder of my fellow Filipino Ms. Maricel Garduque. However, on April 26, 2010 I obtained a letter of forgiveness from the mother of the deceased, Mrs. Norma Garduque which was duly authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

On October 18, 2010, the Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Her Excellency Ma. Corazon Yap-Bahjin met personally the Minister for the Royal Court, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and handed the original letter of forgiveness.

The Minister told the Ambassador that he will forward the letter of forgiveness to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Your Majesty, numerous amnesties have already (pardoning of inmates) were given by your esteemed office since Ambassador Bahjin handed my letter of forgiveness to the Royal Court. As of this writing, I am still under incarceration.

Your Majesty, please, I am appealing to you to consider my letter. May almighty God bless you with good health and long life. Thank you.

Written by:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

The indefinite detention of illegal migrants dispossesses asylum seekers from their basic rights, including the right to trial as well as to timely deportation. The law only requires a review of detention within seven days, and once again every three years. Any crime committed by migrant workers – from graffiti to weapons possession – is grounds for detainment. This default criminalization of migrants and the terms of their detention contradict several international treaties. Mandated periodic reviews that are years apart fail to mitigate these abuses.

The amendment adds to the growing body of legislation targeting migrants, which includes a five to fifteen year prison sentence for individuals aiding or sheltering illegal migrants. The brute response to migrants is entangled in Israel’s ambiguous, ad-hoc refugee process which broadly condemns assylum seekers as economic profiteers; to date, less than 200 asylum seekers have been granted refuge status. Israel has failed to uphold its obligations as a signatory to the Convention on the Status of Refugees, which requires nations to implement substantive assylum law.

The Knesset’s heavy-handed approach to migration is driven by, and itself perpetuates, this misperception of migrant; statements by the Knesset members and citizens alike manufacture a disasterous image of Israel’s future if refugee migration is sustained, stoking fears in the hopes of justifying draconian and discriminatory laws.

The debate over asylum seekers is particularly intense in Israel as many of its own citizens are refugees from Europe. Israeli communities and international organizations have strongly voiced their discontent with the law; a homegrown initiative called STOP the Infiltration Prevention Law Campaign produced an awareness video featured on Care2.com’s politic’s cause page. See the video and responses from other Israeli NGOs here. Amnesty international also condemned the law in a public statement here.

In a statement issued on November 30, the DFA confirmed that a Filipino whom it did not identify is scheduled to be meted out death  on December 8, barely a week from now.

“We are still praying and hoping that the execution will be halted, though Chinese authorities really adhere on its strict implementation of anti-drugs policy and have meted out death to those found guilty,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

He added fellow OFWs worries are revive like when the three (3) Filipinos were executed in China last March this year.

Monterona said this is a sad, bitter reality confronting us as a nation especially if we knew there are more than a hundred of them still on death row in various countries.

“We hope that our calls for the Aquino govt. to work hard to saving the lives of other OFWs on death row must be met with all seriousness and pro-active stance on the part of the present administration,” Monterona added.

Monterona reiterates his group calls on the Aquino govt. the formation of a high-level inter-agency task force that would find ways for the commutation of Filipinos’ death sentences and eventually spare them from execution.

The Saudi-based OFW leader also re-iterates calls for an intensified campaign initiated by the government, national and international in scope, involving all concerned government agencies, to prevent OFWs being victimized by international drug traffickers and syndicates.

Written by:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

Some imprisoned migrants state that they were forced to join pro-Gaddafi forces, but never participated in any actual killing. Others attest they were not involved in the war at all, and were only arrested because of their foreign appearance. The difficulty in validating both accusations and defenses is compounded by the absence of a judicial system.

Rights organizations as well as journalists are permitted access to prisons, and their reports have pressured the interim national government (NTC) to monitor these facilities more closely. The NTC formed a stabilization committee which, according to one report, has substantially improved conditions in at least one prison. Videos of some prisons in Libya can be found here and here.

But no matter the quality of captivity, the detention centers continue to hold the potential for serious human rights abuses. Under international law, arbitrary arrest and indefinite imprisonment are only permissible – temporarily – in cases of national emergency. But as the war in Libya subsides, the less excuses for these violations exist. Without an institutionalized legal system, migrants face a particularly uncertain fate.

Though most prisons hold Libyans as well as foreigners, migrants generally do not have the benefit of local family and friends to lobby on their behalves. Some prison officials argue that detaining migrants may be in the best interest of their safety until the rule of law and proper police forces are realized, as suspicion towards foreigners remains widespread. The association of migrants with pro-Gaddafi mercenaries triggered arbitrary imprisonments, as well as summary executions, from the uprising’s early days. But such suggestions only fuel migrants’ fear of arrest, preventing many from even venturing outside alone.

The U.N. stresses that the new Libyan government needs to reign in detention centers run by autonomous brigades and to effect standards of treatment that hold prison guards accountable. Some prisons have begun to free those who can prove their innocence, demonstrating that the NTC can facilitate the release of migrants even without the development of a wider judicial system. Such expeditious legal resolutions are essential to reversing the pro-Gaddafi stigma plaguing migrants, as well as to upholding the values of liberty and equality promulgated by the revolution.

Commentary: Women Filipino inmates with children in Dubai prison

by John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

Last week, Migrante-Middle East (M-ME), care of this writer, received reports about the more or less fifteen (15) women OFW inmates with children, in a jail in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The report M-ME received was from a recently released female OFW inmate (who requested not to be named) that there are about 100 OFW inmates, 15 of them with children, languishing at Muraqabat prison for women in Dubai.

This report is quite disturbing. The innocent children have been exposed to the adversities and bitter realities of prison life.

An expatriate friend of mine who works as a reporter for a local media firm in Dubai corroborated the information about women OFW inmates with children in that Dubai jail.

In an email sent to me, she conveyed that she was in the women’s prison on another story few weeks ago when she noticed all these kids in a little courtyard area. “I assumed it was ‘family visiting day’ but when I asked the guard, she told me they live there. They don’t ever get to go out of the prison compound and receive no education,” she conveyed to me.

The children should not be in jail in the first place though their mothers are.

We came to know that some of the women OFWs were charged of illicit affairs. Unfortunately, they became pregnant and while serving their time in jail delivered a baby.

A number of them who claimed they were sexually abused and got pregnant, have ran away, but their employer charged them of absconding and other trumped up charges such as stealing and illicit affairs, thus they were sent behind bars.

Why the PH post in Dubai could not seek with the local authorities the release of OFW inmates and their children for humanitarian consideration or ask for clemency to shorten their jail term?

The PH diplomatic post could even arrange to talk with the OFW inmates and convince them to coordinate with their families in the Philippines so that the children will be sent home, after getting them the required documentation, and place the children under temporary care of their relatives in the Philippines.

We have already asked Migrante officers in Dubai to look deeply into this report and liaise with the PH consulate officials in Dubai to provide assistance to the OFW inmates and their children.

To ensure that they will be properly attended, Migrante-ME will coordinate with the PH post officials to arrange and prioritize attending their case and work for their immediate repatriation.

We know very well that the only entity that could verify the information is the PH consulate itself as they have the legal recognition by the local authorities. It could in fact arrange a jail visit and if they’re doing this then for sure they must have exact numbers/figures of children inside UAE jails. Now if they don’t have, they maybe are just sleeping on their job.

We raised this issue not as a matter of counting numbers/figures, but a serious concern since we have received corroborating statements from an OFW inmate who have stayed months inside the jail and a foreign reporter who was given a chance not only once but many times to visit various jails in Dubai.

If we will not raise this issue, who will do? Who will care these innocent children?

The government decision in August of last year set out a number of criteria based on which it was estimated that out of the 1,200 migrant children in Israel, 800 would be granted stay permits and the rest would be deported. The majority of the migrant mothers lost their legal status for getting pregnant, as a result of a government policy that has since been struck down by the Supreme Court.

Since July of 2009, a campaign spearheaded by the NGO Israeli Children prevented the deportations time after time. The Minister of Interior explained the delay by stating that the Ministry was constructing a holding facility capable of housing the children and their mothers before deportation. The deportation of older children was further delayed due to the desire of the State to avoid the public outcry over deportation of children during the school year.

About 700 families that supposedly fit the criteria of the government decision submitted their requests to receive a stay permit. Out of those 700, the requests of 100 were summarily rejected. The other 600 families have not received any word about their legal status because the Minister of Interior decided to hold them hostage – they will not be given their stay permits until those families that do not fit the criteria will be deported. These 600 families have spent almost a year in uncertainty, unable to legally work and excluded from many of Israel’s protective laws due to the lack of legal status. During this year, some of children who didn’t fit the criteria a year ago (notably, being older than 5-years-old) are now eligible for the legal status according to the August 2010 decision.

In March, the first deportation of an undocumented migrant family took place and in the past two months the rate of deportations of children under the age of four was accelerated. 26 children and their mothers were arrested and taken to the holding facility constructed for them at the Ben Gurion Airport. Migrant rights NGOs expect the deportations to accelerate further now that the school year in Israel is about to end on June 30.

Rotem Ilan, the founder of Israeli Children, which launched the new campaign together with the NGO Hotline for Migrant Workers, says that their organization has received “very disturbing accounts” about the conditions at the Ben Gurion holding facility. Despite the child-friendly image of the holding facility that the Israeli government tried to promote, Ilan made it clear that “there are no social or medical services in the holding facility, and thus, far away from the public eye, the children and their mothers are being held in harsh conditions that are not fit for children.” One testimony about the holding facility came from a woman who was arrested and detained in the facility with her child, despite the fact that the Ministry of Interior knew that the father of the child has legal status in Israel. Due to this her deportation was prevented and she and her baby were released from the facility after a few days inside. The account she provided to lawyers at the Hotline for Migrant Workers is a harrowing one:

“They locked us inside the room from the moment we got there, and wouldn’t let us go out to the yard. We didn’t have soap or hot water and I had to prepare a bottle for the baby with no hot water. I showered the child with cold water in the sink. I had to bang on the door for a long time until they let me have warm water for the bottle… They gave me a document telling me that I’m entitled to call an attorney but wouldn’t let me call. I cried all the time and asked them to let me make the call. The inspectors kept telling me that the father doesn’t want to have anything to do with me or the child and that “he has had enough of you” and that he doesn’t love us.”

It has been reported that when Physicians for Human Rights doctor rushed to the holding facility to treat a sick child, he was prevented from entering and helping the child as the inspectors of the facility suspected the doctor might try to stop the deportation of the child and his mother. The holding facility is the only one operating in Israel without set guidelines and those who run it are not policemen or prison guards who are experienced with dealing with prisoners; instead the facility is managed by Ministry of Interior inspectors.

The new campaign includes an animation video (translated below) and on-the-ground activity, including a call to send letters to Israeli ministers urging them to stop the deportation via BibiDontDeport.com.

Originally posted by the writer on +972 Magazine.

Citing local reports, Migrante-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said on Tuesday a spokesman of Saudi’s Prison department had been quoted saying the judicial and security authorities are discussing alternative punishments.

The Saudi’s prison dept. wanted to reduce the suffering of prisoners and their families and cut down the numbers of prisoners in various Saudi jails, a report in Arab News reported.

“We are more than happy to hear the announcement on Saudi’s plan in crafting alternative punishments especially if it will include migrants or expatriate workers who have only committed petty crimes in violation of the customary laws of the host government,” Monterona added.

He seconded that alternative punishments such as fines, social or community services, and other corrective measures could instead be imposed on petty crime offenders with no private rights liability involve.

“A number of our fellow Filipino compatriots and migrants of other Asian nationalities working in Saudi have been charged of petty offenses such as ‘mixed crowd’, possession of liquor, gambling, and absconding which are punishable by 6 to 1 year imprisonment plus a hundred of lashes,” Monterona averred.

Migrante-ME estimates there are about 800 OFW inmates in various Saudi jails.

Monterona said the so called ‘alternative punishments’ could instead be imposed which commensurate to the degree of the offense committed such that of petty crimes.

“Alternative punishments can be considered as ‘more humane punishment, corrective and rehabilitative without degrading the being of the person,” Monterona opined.

“We have noticed the host government is now gearing towards the humanization of its legal and judicial system in terms of imposing penalties and treatment to prisoners and petty crimes offenders. We welcome this plan,” Monterona concluded. # # #

Written by:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

Asylum seekers and refugees in Egypt face a threat of deportation to countries where they risk persecution. This violates the cornerstone of international refugee law that prohibits such deportations—the principle of non-refoulement.

Refugees in Sinai have attracted media attention because Egyptian authorities have caught, arrested, shot, or even killed an increased number of those attempting to illegally cross the border from Egypt into Israel.

Others in Sinai have been kidnapped or held hostage by smugglers or traffickers who may have deceived these mainly-Eritrean individuals into believing that they can assist them with entering Israel for a high enough price. There are reports that they have led them as far as Sinai and then held them hostage until they can provide more money; in the meanwhile, they are subjected to torture, rape and other sexual abuses.

Legally speaking, it is important to differentiate between migrants whom the Egyptian authorities have detained—whether refugees, asylum seekers or other categories of migrants.

Some refugees in Egypt have been in detention from as far back as February 2008. A group of several Eritreans and Ethiopians, as well as a few Somalis, are currently being held in Qanater prison; some of them have been detained for entering Egypt illegally, mainly through the Sudanese border. Many of them are held with criminals who have life sentences for crimes like drug trafficking.

This is a particularly vulnerable group for a few reasons. Firstly, their detention violates the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which Egypt has ratified. The law says that illegal entry of refugees fleeing persecution should not be penalized granted that they present themselves to the authorities within a reasonable amount of time and can explain their illegal entry or presence. Secondly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency responsible for conducting refugee status determination in Egypt, has not been able to access all such detained asylum seekers due to lack of response from the government authorities. While the UNHCR is the mainactor involved in upholding the legal status and welfare of refugees in Egypt, the Egyptian government is the only authority.

The UNHCR may not have the most accurate record of asylum seekers and refugees in detention if the government has failed to coordinate with them about certain detainees. This may leave a number of asylum seekers and refugees unaccounted for in the event of a deportation like we saw in the summer of 2008.

On the other hand, the detention of those who were caught attempting to cross the border with Israel illegally is lawful.

One such group of over 85 Eritreans and Ethiopians are currently detained in Al-Mustaqbal police station in Ismailia. They are at risk of being deported to countries where they may face incommunicado detention, torture, sexual assault or rape and other abuses of human rights.

It is more likely that if these detainees have been in Cairo, they have previously had a chance to approach the UNHCR, and many might already be recognized refugees. This differentiates them from those whose right to seek asylum has not been upheld. However, if those who attempted to enter Israel are bona fide refugees, their deportation is still illegal.

Since the Egyptian government authorities may be excluding the UNHCR from playing its delegated role in offering international protection to these detainees, it remains uncertain whether these crucial distinctions will be made. It is imperative that the authorities are aware of the danger that deporting refugees to countries where there is a high risk of persecution poses to these detainees, as well as Egypt’s legal obligation not to deport.

Written by:
Dalia Malek
PhD Candidate at King’s College London, Department of Law

(Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator)

We have been receiving complaints from jailed Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia who claimed they have already completed their jail term. Thus, we would like to get the attention of Department of Foreign Affairs and the various Philippine diplomatic posts to work for their immediate repatriation.

Migrante chapters in Saudi Arabia have already received 12 requests for assistance since last month from jailed OFWs who have claimed that they already completed their jail term.

Some of the jailed OFWs are languishing at Malaz Central jail in Saudi’s capital Riyadh.

Though some admitted committing petty crimes such as possession and drinking alcohol, gambling and ‘mixed’ crowd which is prohibited, but they have asserted that they have been in jail for a year and have already completed their respective sentence; others insisted that they were framed up.

Usually, petty crimes are punishable within 6 months to 1 year imprisonment plus a hundred of lashes, after which the jailed migrant worker will be sent home after completion of his jail term.

It’s a pity that a number of our fellow OFWs, who have been in jail for violating the customary laws of the host country, though they have already completed their sentence, are still languishing in various jails in Saudi Arabia and in other mid-east countries.

When a jailed OFW is still languishing in jail after completing his jail term, then his right for immediate repatriation or deportation has been grossly violated.

During several case dialogs of Migrante with the PHL embassy in Riyadh, we have pointed out that a regular review of the case profile of each and every jailed OFWs must be undertaken to identify those who have already completed their respective jail terms and immediately arrange for their deportation with the local authorities.

Migrante-ME cited, based on jailed OFWs account, there are about 200 of them in Malaz Central jail, while a conservative estimate of 8,000 jailed OFWs in various jails in the Middle East.

We fully understand the need to beef up the PHL diplomatic post of capable staff to attend on the numerous cases of OFWs, thus we have been calling the Aquino government and the DFA and DoLE to consider deploying additional consular and labor staff but until now we are not receiving a favorable response.

On December 18, Migrant workers around the world and their organizations will observe the International Migrants Day. We will convey again our challenge to the Aquino government along with the host governments to work for genuine OFWs protection, uphold and defends migrant workers rights and welfare.

-John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator