EDITORIAL - Special courts for OFWs

Here’s a piece of positive news for Filipinos working in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates has reportedly launched special courts to focus on cases involving migrant workers.

The UAE is one of the largest employers of overseas Filipino workers and other foreigners. In September last year, UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan enacted a federal law prohibiting the harassment of workers, forced labor and human trafficking. In line with this, his half-brother Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister and chairman of the judicial department in Abu Dhabi, ordered the assignment of special public prosecutors and judicial departments in every court of first instance.

How effective the special tribunals will be in promoting the welfare of migrant workers including OFWs remains to be seen. The move and related measures, however, could spare the UAE from scandals similar to the one that erupted over the gruesome murder of Filipina household helper Joanna Demafelis, whose remains were found in a freezer in her employers’ abandoned apartment in Kuwait.

Demafelis’ employers were a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife, but when her murder became known, it was Kuwait that bore the brunt of the complaints about maltreatment of OFWs. Kuwait has yet to fully contain the fallout from the scandal.

The fate that befell Demafelis makes the UAE’s recent moves all the more welcome. Nations import labor for various reasons: their population is too small; people from some countries are better at certain types of skills; their citizens shun some types of work. Middle Eastern countries have relied for a long time on migrant labor for their oil-powered rapid development.

Abusing migrant workers can put that labor supply at risk. It is in the interest of host countries to promote the welfare of migrant workers, especially in ensuring that they are protected from physical, sexual and other forms of abuse. The murder of Demafelis should inspire more reforms in host countries, and not just in the Middle East.