Humane treatment for Pinoys in Israel

Israeli Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba has given assurance that undocumented Filipino workers in Israel will not get inhumane treatment when they are deported.

Ben-Abba said illegal workers in Israel will be housed in a special shelter where they will be granted a minimum of 72 hours to seek assistance.

"I can guarantee that illegal workers will be treated in a humane and respectable manner," she said in a letter to the United Manpower Agencies for Israel Association Inc. "Israel is a signatory to the international treaties related to labor issues."

Filipinos who want to return home will be allowed to leave without going through unnecessary deportation procedures, she added.

Ben-Abba said Israel’s new immigration regulation is expected to affect some 50,000 illegal aliens from various countries worldwide.

The crackdown covers all illegal workers regardless of their nationality, she added.

About 30,000 undocumented Filipino workers in Israel are facing possible deportation following the passage of a new immigration law, the Department of Labor and Employment has reported.

Meanwhile, Sen. Manny Villar called yesterday on Philippine diplomatic missions abroad to immediately create task forces to help Filipino workers within their jurisdictions.

"Nine-eleven may have taken place a year ago but nations prone to terrorist attacks have continually launched campaigns on undocumented aliens," he said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said Filipino illegals in Italy and Israel are expected to be deported following a recent crackdown by immigration authorities in those two countries.

"Rather than wait to be overcome by developments, our embassies should be prepared for any eventuality so as not to be caught flat-footed," he said. "They must be prepared to respond to the needs of overseas Filipinos at all times."

Villar said Philippine embassies must ensure that Filipino workers abroad would be treated humanely and given due process of law.

"While we respect the right of countries to implement their laws, they too must respect the rights of our countrymen regardless of their status in that country," he said.

"We must send the clear message that we will not take lightly the abuse of Filipinos."

Villar said the government must be ready to put in place programs to deal with the possible influx of Filipino workers from various countries.

"Livelihood programs should be put in place to make sure that they will have means to support themselves and their families in the event that they return home," he said.

Earlier Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta said the government should be ready with a contingency plan not only for Filipinos in Israel and Italy but in all other countries with a large Filipino population.

With the possible return of 200,000 undocumented Filipinos in Israel and Italy, the Arroyo administration should focus on economic reconstruction to absorb them into the economy, Oreta added. — With Sammy Santos