At least 2-M OFWs, mostly undocumented, seen to return home jobless by end 2013 by Jul 11, 2013 6:34am HKT THE Filipino migrant sectoral group MIGRANTE today said at least two million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to return in the Philippines by end of 2013. “There are clear indications brought by various developing events worldwide, mostly in countries where there are large concentrations of OFWs, which will send at least 2-M OFWs back home to join the growing numbers of unemployed and underemployed in the Philippines,” according to MIGRANTE vice chairperson John Leonard Monterona, also the group’s coordinator in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Monterona cited that most of OFWs jobs displacements are coming from Saudi Arabia and other middle-eastern countries that geared towards nationalization of their respective labor markets. ‘It tells us about shrinking of labor markets previously available to OFWs.’ In Saudi Arabia, Monterona added around 120,000 to 300,000 OFWs will be returning home by end of this year. This figure is aside from those who have been terminated from their jobs since 2010 during the 1st phase of the Saudization implementation by the Saudi govt., according to Monterona. Monterona cited that Kuwait, for more than a month now, has intensified its crackdown of ‘illegal’ migrants. There are at least 24,000 undocumented OFWs in Kuwait. He also cited the worsening peace and order situation in Egypt. If a full blown civil war ensued, at least 32,000 OFWs, including the 3,000 undocumented OFWs, will be forced to be repatriated. “Then, here comes report from Japan. That around 150 to 300 illegal OFWs will be deported, 75 of them have been deported the other day,” Monterona noted. In Taiwan, at least 10,000 OFWs are now affected by the host govt. ‘freeze hiring’ policy due to the killing of Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Cost Guards members last month, which resulted to a dispute that until now has not been resolved between the Philippines and Taiwan. While in South Korea, crackdown of ‘illegal’ migrants have been on and off for quite some time. But it affected at least 8,000 OFWs who were deported since 2011 and still counting, according to Monterona. “In our conservative estimate, since 2010 to the end of 2013, there will be at least 2 million OFWs, mostly undocumented, some of them have already returned and many more are expected to return in the Philippines due to massive crackdown, jobs displacement, and deteriorating peace and order situation in some of the Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa,” Monterona pointed out. Monterona, however, noted that amid forced migration of millions of unemployed and underemployed Filipinos, human labor exportation under the PNoy govt. has intensified with 2-M Filipinos deployed since 2012, an indication that the country’s joblessness are worsening, if not remains to be a major concern. “The usual reply by the government to OFWs who were displaced from work abroad is that they should still try to find jobs in other countries, supplemented by the govt. false assurances that a reintegration program for all OFWs are ready, however, many could not avail due to numerous requirements and the usual bureaucratic red tape,” Monterona concluded. An average of 4,200 OFWs daily are leaving the country. There are an estimated 10-M OFWs leaving and working around the world. remate.ph/2013/07/at-least-2-m-ofws-mostly-undocumented-seen-to-return-home-jobless-by-end-2013/
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:43:51 +0000