Protecting migrant domestic workers and families
Led by Ms. Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migration Advocacy (CMA) and in partnership with AWO, a German organization for the social protection of workers, a one-day project planning meeting was conducted February 22, 2019 with the theme: Strengthening Capacities for the Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers and Families.
Attended by representatives of migrant groups from various parts of Region 7, the meeting discussed the following objectives: 1.) Provide sufficient information and help build the confidence of the migrant domestic workers and their families to assert their rights; 2.) Take government to task and ensure the protection of our migrant domestic workers; and, 3.) Direct engagement on policies, laws, and regulations affecting our migrant workers through lobbying.
To pursue these aims, this particular CMA-AWO project for the Visayas intends to a.) Capacitate organizations of migrant workers and their families and support groups with the right information about their rights; b.) Help migrant organizations and their families to provide the right information for them to assert their rights; c.) Take government to be accountable in protecting migrant domestic workers; d.) Study and advocate relevant national policies, laws and regulations, and bilateral labor agreements for the protection of migrant workers, especially migrant domestic workers and their families; and, e.) advocate for the rights of Filipino migrant workers and their families in international platforms.
Major components of the capacity building objective of this three-year joint project include trainers’ training on rights and case management, echo training among peers, roundtable discussions on migration governance, rights, and access to justice for LGU members/reintegration programs and data collection on the LGU level, round table discussion on Duterte Monitor, and information dissemination through information, education, and communication materials, and the setting up of migrant helpdesks in the Visayas.
Hopefully, a migrant assistance system and network can be mainstreamed for quick and effective response for distressed migrants. With so many decades of migrant labor experienced by our people and our country, it is imperative that migrant helpdesks and an effective multi-sectoral migrant help system and network be installed soonest to protect and save our migrant workers from abuse and harm.
Many of our female migrant workers are engaged in elementary occupations where skills, salaries, and social and legal protection are low. Many are doing household and caregiving work, Domestic work is not covered by labor and social laws, is unregulated, undervalued, unrecognized, underpaid, and unprotected, and considered a woman’s job. Gender-based violence in workplaces have been widely reported and documented.
Domestic workers have to know that they have rights and are protected by local and international laws. With millions of Filipino migrants, our people have to be informed about their rights and groups and communities organized and trained about migrant rights and protection.
Still, so much to do so more are informed about migrant rights and protection and more importantly, so more can be protected and rescued promptly.
Migrants have to be located, organized, trained, and mobilized to be skilled especially about their rights. Just as important is the valuable sharing of information with all migrants about the system and network of assistance available for them wherever they are. All public and private partners, locally and globally, also have to work out a system and network for prompt, effective, and protective response to be made available to distressed migrants.
With the planning organizers, the participants who all have experienced the challenges of being OFWs agreed about the urgent need for a better system and network to safeguard the rights of migrant workers and their families.
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