Last week, DoLE chief Rosalinda Baldoz announced that they have agreed with the Lebanese govt. and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stipulating provisions that will provide protection to deployed Filipino domestic workers in its bid to lift the ban imposed by the PH govt.

Simultaneously, with the signing of a bilateral agreement with the Lebanese, the Philippine and Saudi governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is expected to end the ban hiring Filipino domestic workers that was imposed by the Saudi govt. last year.

‘We came to know specific to PH-Saudi agreement on hiring Filipino domestic workers that the host govt. acceded on the minimum wage of $400/month, a weekly day-off, holiday time totaling to 30 days, and free ticket for the OFW upon completion of her contract,” Monterona noted.

Though, Monterona welcomed the above stipulated provisions of the PH-Saudi agreement, he said ‘the many cases of abuses and rampant labor malpractices were never thoroughly given much attention and serious consideration.’

“The effectiveness of these agreements with the Saudi and Lebanese governments hosting thousands of Filipino domestic workers cannot be determined in the absence of mechanisms of enforcement of what were stipulated in the agreements or MoU,” Monterona opined.

Monterona added the passage and ratification of legislation or local laws in adherence to international labor standards providing protection to migrant workers, including domestic workers, accompanied by specific implementing rules and regulations by the host governments are still desired.

“Protection of Filipino migrant workers is not simply a matter of signing off a MoU between the PH and the host governments; it is more of how to seriously implement the stipulated agreements care of the host governments by passing local laws that would guarantee migrant rights and their protection,” Monterona ended. # # #

Written:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

Israel’s mechanism for deportation is unclear at this point. The UN High Commission on Refugees states that Israel must review each asylum seeker on a case-by-case basis to determine whether or not they are still refugees – in which case Israel cannot deport them without violating their own agreements as well as international law.

Israel has long claimed that the majority of African asylum seekers are economic migrants who, especially because of their often illegal status, can be forcibly and justly repatriated. The birth of South Sudan offers a convenient pretext to implement the controversial deportation policies the Knesset recently passed. But the potential dangers migrants face when they return home are unknown – thus it is crucial that migrants’ refugee status is reviewed individually, and without the bias that is present in much Israeli rhetoric.

Israel’s Sudanese community has reacted to the sudden announcement with understandable despair. Many lament the absence of any conceivable livelihood in the embryonic nation, preferring to delay their return until the country is both politically and economically secure.

Originally posted on the Lebanese blog Ethiopian Suicides.

The show featured a 5 minute act where a couple was “negotiating” with a representative of a recruitment agency for a migrant domestic worker. The couple became aggressive and sexually explicit to the point where the recruitment agency representative responded to the couple: “Do you think that I am a pimp? I run a workers recruitment agency here!”. The “couple” then asks for a dirty maid, peeing unwillingly and smelling, and hitting children. The “husband” at the end of the video suggested to the recruiter “to shove up his *** the broomstick that their last maid had used before she jumped from the balcony”. At that point, when we understood that the couple are upset because of the suicide of their maid, the couple’s sudden unwarranted slurs and foul language are covered by a long sequences of “beeping”!

This is not MTV’s first time racist shows. MTV’s odious, unethical and immoral show comes at a time when Lebanese and international media keep reporting on the trafficking and slavery of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon.

You can read here Ethiopian Suicides’ take with some social media comments reproduced in the post.

And you can read here Anti Racism Movement’s commentary.

As for the video itself, you can view it on this link. Do read the comments under it.

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

“It is prudent for the Aquino administration to seriously put a break in peddling Filipino workers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), amid the still volatile peace and order situation in this part of world,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

Monterona noted that Middle-East and North African countries are considered, for the past 10 years, as fertile labor market frontier by past administrations and even by the present Aquino III govt.

He said there are five middle-east countries making on the overall top ten destinations of Filipino workers such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. There are also a considerable numbers of OFWs in Iraq and Syria.

While in North Africa, there are large concentrations of OFWs in Libya and Egypt, both were besieged of political upheavals last year; both countries peace and order situation is still volatile.

Monterona noted on Friday, January 27, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad killing at least 32 people in the latest brazen attacked since the US troop withdrawal from Iraq.

The incident prompted Philippine Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario to travel Sunday to Iraq ‘to assess the security and safety of the Filipinos in light of the reported escalating violence.’

“Massive buildup of pro-democracy protesters in Egypt has also been noted, while in Syria violence continued. There is fear that the Iran conflict will escalate amid economic sanctions imposed by the Western countries lead by the US and European countries,” Monterona noted.

Monterona said the current political events in some MENA countries should be treated as revealing ‘signs of the time’ that could not anymore qualify these countries as fertile labor market frontiers. ‘Thus, the Aquino III govt. must shun peddling OFWs in MENA countries; instead it must focus creating local jobs with decent pay and benefits.”

“It is high time for the Philippines to develop and have its own vibrant local industries it could rely on –first, by nationalizing its basic industries, and secondly, genuinely implement agrarian reform with support services and technological know-how to develop our agrarian-based economy which will serve as a reliable economic backbone of the emerging Philippines,” Monterona ended. # # #

Written by:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

This news came just one day before the Guardian published a report about Lila, a Nepalese who was trafficked into slavery and committed suicide in Lebanon.

Originally posted on Ethiopian Suicides.

The aim of the articles is threefold: (1) to raise awareness and emphasize the humanity of migrant workers – visible in homes and on streets, in restaurants, malls, factories and fields, but often discarded in peoples’ mentalities as expendable, second-class citizens – to Jordanian readers, readers in other Arab countries contending with issues regarding migrant workers, and to the international community (2) to raise questions concerning the effectiveness and implementation of Jordanian labor laws intended to protect migrant workers, and (3) to add to existing migrants’ rights-related literature and resources online.

Each article will focus on the story of one migrant worker. We are hoping to capture the personal and labor histories of workers in a variety of sectors, including but not limited to households, agricultural fields, Qualified Industrial Zones, restaurant/service, construction.

We hope that one person’s voice in recounting her (or his) experience of coming to and working in Jordan, of her thoughts and feelings, worries, hopes, and concerns will offer readers a glimpse into the life of this migrant worker. Although one migrant worker’s story cannot represent that of the whole, each worker’s experience crucially shapes and is shaped by the legal, economic, and societal structures in place.

Our goal is to produce one article every two weeks. (The timeline of when we will conclude the article series has not yet been determined.) As the primary writer, I will use my narrative voice to frame the context of the interview, and to raise questions and offer additional insights.

Thank you for your time,
Elizabeth Kim
Tamkeen Center for Legal Aid & Human Rights, Intern

After months of negotiation, Saudi assented to these demands in an accord signed in Manilla. The agreement stipulated a minimum wage of $400//month, a weekly day off, holiday time totaling thirty days, and a free ticket for migrants to return to their home country. The accord also targets several of the most prevalent abuses, rendering it illegal to withhold maids’ passports, to treat them poorly, or to force them to work in multiple households.

While legal protections for domestic workers is a significant achievement in the Gulf region, the effect of the agreement cannot be determined until Saudi’s commitments are ratified in legislation and mechanisms of enforcement are implemented.