Palace orders Alvarez to check on Pinoys in ME

Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Communities Heherson Alvarez will fly to the Middle East to check on the situation of Filipinos working there.

Alvarez said he has been instructed by President Arroyo to find out what else can be done to help the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East besides the programs being implemented by special envoy Roy Cimatu and his Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT).

Alvarez’s itinerary covers Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. There are 1.5 million OFWs in the Middle East, 900,000 of whom are based in Saudi Arabia.

The President also instructed Alvarez to look into complaints of violations of OFWs’ human rights by their employers in the wake of the recent ratification of the United Nations convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families.

Alvarez said the Arroyo administration seeks to reassure Filipino migrant workers of its profound sympathy and concern for their welfare and rights.

According to Alvarez, there are over seven million OFWs deployed in various parts of the world who remit an estimated $8 billion, equivalent to the contribution of the agricultural sector to the Gross National Product (GNP).

Alvarez earlier said the newly ratified UN convention on the protection of migrant workers would greatly help the Philippine government in its programs to assist OFWs victimized by violations of their human rights, ill-treatment and exploitation.

He said the UN convention, ratified by 21 UN member states last month, will set the international standards for the protection, recognition and acceptance of migrant labor and will be enforceable in all UN member nations starting July 1.

"In certain countries, the standards of humane and proper treatment of migrant workers are still not enforceable under their domestic laws," Alvarez said. "With the UN convention, international standards will now be established and these countries are bound to comply because they are part of the UN system."

As a result of the ratification of this UN convention, Alvarez said, a judicial institution will be created by the UN to accept and process complaints against inhumane and unfair treatment of migrant workers.

While he has yet to verify the "mode of enforcement" of this new convention, Alvarez said violations should include human rights abuses, exploitation of women and children, gender discrimination and the like.