Filipinos advised against getting jobseekers on tourist visas

Dubai: Philippine labour attache Delmer Cruz has warned Filipinos against sponsoring their friends and relatives to Dubai as tourists and then helping them find work here as housemaids because it is illegal and could put such visitors at risk.

Cruz said the number of distressed people in their care has increased since the turn of the year, with more than half of them being Filipinas who had entered the UAE on tourist or visit visas.

“We experienced a spike in the number of wards, which is the highest since we reached our lowest number in the third quarter of 2015. Currently, we have 30 wards, more than 50 per cent of whom entered the UAE without going through proper channels after the deployment suspension in 2014,” Cruz told Gulf News referring to the Filipinas sheltered by the consulate.

Hiring Filipina maids directly from the Philippines in the UAE has stopped since June 2014 due to conflicting recruitment rules in labour-exporting countries like the Philippines. Both countries are in negotiations to address the problem.

To legally hire maids from the Philippines, candidates are required to go through government accredited recruitment agencies and pass a proper verification process by Philippine labour officials to ensure their welfare. “Going against this constitutes human trafficking that can put the workers [who arrive on tourist visas] into precarious or vulnerable situations. Our remedy is limited because we do not know the agencies that brought them here,” Cruz said.

The situation is especially dicey for people who arrive on tourist visas but later find work as maids in the UAE. Cruz said that if domestic helpers want to terminate their contracts without a “valid or strong reason” such as abuse, the case usually has to go to court and the maids are asked to pay a hefty fee. “We have time and again reminded our compatriots to go through legal channels if they want to work here,” he said.