MANILA, Philippines - An international organization has appealed to countries employing migrant workers not to discriminate against them by firing them first during layoffs.
"Governments should be very careful, the crisis should not be unfairly targeted at migrants," Charles Harns, regional representative from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has said.
A number of countries that have been hit by the global financial crisis have announced that they would first get rid of foreign workers.
Malaysia, for one, has banned the hiring of foreign workers in its factories, stores and restaurants to protect its citizens from mass unemployment. Its government has also ordered companies to lay off foreign employees first if they must slash their work force.
Saudi Arabia has also a standing directive for companies to fire expats first should they need to slash their work force as a result of the global economic crisis.
In Macau, the administration is also reportedly looking at a possible 50 percent reduction in foreign workers in private security and cleaning agencies for 2009 to give more priority to its citizens.
The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has already recorded 5,404 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from October 2008 to January 2009.
Of the laid-off Filipino workers, 4,140 came from Taiwan, 298 from the United Arab Emirates, 180 from Canada, 81 from Australia, and 74 from South Korea. The countries where the remaining number of retrenched Filipino workers came from were not disclosed.
Harns said that this should not be the case because "migrants are not the problem, they're probably part of the solution."
"They are important in rebuilding the economy," he said.
OFW remittances alone reached almost $17 billion or more than P800 billion in 2008, the highest level recorded ever since the government started monitoring remittances in 1989.
Latest data from the Philippine Central Bank showed that in October 2008 alone, remittances reached $1.4 billion or almost P70 billion, the highest monthly inflow recorded since 1989, which in turn brought the ten-month remittance figure to $13.7 billion or about P650 billion, 15.5 percent higher than the inflows for the same period in 2007.
As such, he advised governments of origin countries to help their workers to be more "flexible" by providing them with entrepreneurship skills.
"They should expand the market share and opportunities, some countries don't, but the Philippines does," he said.
The DOLE claimed to have it allotted P402,852,000 for its package of assistance to workers affected by the global financial crisis, about P4.2 million of which has already been allocated to 1,015 workers. In addition, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has said that it can lend up to P50,000 to displaced OFWs for livelihood projects or business enterprises.
The loan is available at a low five percent interest per annum with no collateral and is payable for over 24 months with an interest-free grace period of 80 days.
But aside from the monetary assistance, Roque said that they have also set up programs that would help Filipino workers obtain the skills that they need to work and start businesses.
These, Harns said, are the things that workers need right now.
"We need tools at home to help those people, not to allow them to fall flat on their face when they get home," he said.
But he emphasized that governments alone cannot do this, they also need partnerships with the private and international sectors.
"Partnership is an important part of the solution," he said. - GMANews.TV