EU migrants not a threat to OFW jobs – PIDS

MANILA, Philippines - The European migrant crisis that started last year will not significantly affect overseas Filipino workers who have established good working reputation in Europe, according to the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS).

The state-run policy research institution said Filipinos in Europe occupy jobs that are in demand, hence cannot be easily replaced despite the influx of migrants. 

“The Filipino people have a very good reputation in Europe,” said Lino Briguglio, an economist from the University of Malta who collaborated with PIDS in the study.

Briguglio, however, did not discount the possibility the tightening of borders among European nations put free movement in the continent at risk.

“The migrant crisis will impact your overseas workforce as far as the tightening of visa rules and requirements is concerned. If the EU collapses, the issue of stricter border rules will be a problem that the whole Europe and other foreigners will face and not just your Filipino expats,” he said.

Despite the distance between Europe and the Philippines, PIDS deemed it necessary to study its possible effects on the Philippines.

PIDS president Gilberto Llanto noted the migration crisis is one of the big global shocks last year.

“Because shocks do not occur in silos, they directly affect other potential and ongoing risks given the interconnected nature of threats to global, regional and national stability” he said.

“This puts the onus on policy makers to evaluate in-depth how something as critical as the European migrant crisis could poccibly affects a far-off country like the Philippines,” he added. 

More than a million refugees entered Europe last year by land and sea as violence erupted in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Kosovo.

Foreign media reported that refugees have sought asylum in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, UK, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy and Greece, among others.

The influx has caused conflict among receiving countries that struggle to cope with the migrations.

Briguglio said EU strategists need to focus on strengthening Europe’s capacity to receive asylum seekers and expedite the processing procedure.

He suggested to create a common European asylum system to harmonize the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, and more importantly, to share the burden of responsibility equally among EU countries.