Brexit won’t affect OFWs – UK envoy

MANILA, Philippines - Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will not have an impact on Filipinos working and living in the United Kingdom, as they arrived in the UK under a “completely different immigration regime,” British Ambassador Asif Ahmad said yesterday.

Ahmad said the UK has an independent migration and visa policy, not being part of Schengen.

He said Filipinos came to the UK based on rules that would not be changed.

“There’s a period of uncertainty for many people in the UK because nobody likes change. But if you look at the fundamentals of the status of the 22,000 Filipinos who live and work there, they came under a completely different immigration regime,” Ahmad said in an interview.

The Schengen area includes EU member-states that have abolished passports and any other type of border control documents at their mutual borders. It functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy.

The UK negotiated opt-outs from Schengen.

“We are not part of Schengen. They came to UK based on our rules and those rules will not be changed,” he said, referring to the Filipinos. 

Ahmad said Britain needs the services of the Filipinos. He expressed belief that Philippine investments in the UK and sales to the Philippines, which rose by 38 percent in 2015, would not be affected.

“I don’t think anybody from the Philippines should be worried,” Ahmad said.

In a press briefing on the Brexit vote, Ahmad said he did not see any change in the arrangement on British investments in the Philippines.

The diplomat said that UK investments in the Philippines’ financial market, manufacturing and oil and gas would not diminish.

“Our role in the world will not change dramatically because of this decision,” he said, referring to the Brexit vote.

Ahmad said the referendum has to be activated by enacting legislation. 

“This is something the Parliament will decide on, the mechanism for changes to be effective,” Ahmad said.

But enacting legislation, he said, would be delayed until the successor of Prime Minister David Cameron takes over.

Cameron announced that he is stepping down in October.

CBCP: Brexit won’t affect OFWs

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed doubt that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Britain would be affected by the country’s pullout from the EU.

Bataan Bishop Rufino Santos, chairman of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People, believes that OFWs based in Britain, many of them nurses, would not be affected by the Brexit. 

Santos cited two reasons for saying so.

“The working visas of our OFWs were issued by the UK government and not by the EU, which is called Schengen visa. Second, our OFWs are hired by the UK government to work in the country. So they can remain in the UK and work there,” he said.

He said the Philippines should not fear that the OFWs would be sent home or be out of work. – With Evelyn Macairan