MANILA – Migrante Middle East has appealed to the Labor Market Committee in the Council of Saudi Chambers that recommended a two-year ban on all expatriate workers who leave the Kingdom on final exit visas.
Arab News reported that the Labor Market Committee agreed to put forward a recommendation to higher authorities for approval of the ban. The report prompted the Filipino migrant group to appeal the proposal.
“We sincerely appeal to the chairman and members of the Council of Saudi Chambers’ Labor Market Committee to reconsider its two-year ban proposal for expatriate workers leaving the Kingdom on final exit visa,” John Leonard Monterona, Migrante’s regional coordinator said.
Monterona said his group understood very well that imposing a ban on expatriate workers is within Saudi’s prerogative in order to boost its own nationalization program.
“For one, we would like the Committee to know and understand that not all migrant workers leaving the country on final exit visa has real desire to finally exit since many were only forced to exit due to labor disputes with their employers,” Monterona said.
He said even the existing labor policy that stipulates a one-year ban on workers who refused to renew their contract with their employers is worth reconsidering. “This policy posed a stumbling block to attain a so called ‘expat-friendly labor market environment’,” he said.
Migrante has called on the Philippine government to discuss the implications of the proposed two-year ban with Saudi Arabia. “There is an existing bilateral labor agreement between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. We are urging labor officials of both countries to openly discuss the implications of the proposed two-year ban to the existing labor agreement and to the deployment and demobilization of hired Filipino workers,” he said.
“We have to faced the grim reality that the Philippines even under the present Aquino administration has miserably failed to generate local jobs with reasonable income and benefits just enough to attain around P1,000 plus daily cost of living and the endless rising prices of commodities and basic goods.”
“These are the so-called invisible hands that push Filipino workers to find and accept jobs abroad. That’s why we are giving our full support to the P16,000 minimum wage campaign by the progressive workers alliance led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1st Movement) and the government employees union COURAGE,” he added.
Monterona said migration is not a choice, but at the present situation, many overseas Filipino workers have become victims of forced migration and are treated like a “cheap commodity for sale abroad.” (Mindanao Examiner)
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