85 OFWs sent to Doha with fake contracts - Migrante
just got this on my google alert
MANILA, Philippines – About 85 overseas Filipino workers who were sent to Qatar using fake employment contracts are now being subjected to inhumane treatment by their employers, according to a migrant advocacy group on Wednesday.
Migrante-Middle East said the plight of the workers was discovered by the group and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) in Doha, Qatar, when one of the victims lodged a complaint.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-ME regional coordinator, said the worker complained that they were being forced to work for more than eight hours a day, with no day off, no payment of overtime work, and with unjustified deductions being made against their salary.
Monterona said POLO officials who inspected the OFW’s papers found that he was given a fake contract.
Monterona said the OFW complainant representing his 84 companions presented their case to Welfare Officer Hector Cruz in Doha, even showing videos taken from their camp site to prove their deplorable condition.
“The complainant likewise showed his overseas employment-related documents to the OWWA staff," he added.
“Upon verification of his employment contract by the OWWA officer, it was found out his contract is fake," Monterona added.
The OWWA officer reportedly said it was fake contract because it did not have the signature of the POLO in Qatar. While it bore the POLO seal, it does not have an Arabic translation.
Monterona said 16 of the 85 OFWs had sent him a copy of their signed letter address to the Labor Department of Qatar Ministry of Civil Affairs complaining of their deplorable working condition and the inhumane treatment by their employer.
“One of them had asked our Migrante chapter in Qatar for assistance," Monterona added. "We have advised them to file an appropriate complaint first at the POLO-OWWA so that they too could give them assistance and proper representation once they have formally filed their case with Qatar Labor department."
He said concerned agencies in Manila, notably the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment headed by Vice President Noli de Castro, ought to look into the possible case of human smuggling.
Monterona said the 85 workers were mostly recruited by Bataguenio Human Resources, which holds office in Ermita, Manila.
It said they are employed by Woolim Company, a Korean company serving as a sub-contractor for Hyundai Engineering on its RAPO project in Ras Laffan area.
“Based on what WelOf [welfare officer] Hector Cruz had found out that theirs was a fake employment contract, it is no doubt that the 85 OFWs hired by Woolim Company in Qatar are victims of human smuggling," Monterona averred.
source: GMANews.TV - http://www.gmanews.tv/story/152259/85-OFWs-sent-to-Doha-with-fake-contra...
