ABU DHABI // Unscrupulous Filipino recruiters are driven by greed to send workers to the wrong or non-existent jobs overseas.
“This illegal practice was particularly rampant in 2008, when there was a surge in the deployment of household service workers to Dubai,” said Emmanuel Geslani, an overseas recruitment consultant in Manila. “Many recruitment agencies are still involved in it, largely due to greed and a lack of business.”
Several women were hired as chambermaids, waitresses and office staff, but ended up as domestic workers when they arrived in the UAE.
The practice is commonly called reprocessing – which occurs when recruiters use a particular job or manpower request to hire a waitress, for example, but gives the person hired a different job, such as a housemaid, when she lands abroad. Often, workers are sent to a different country from the one they expected to work in.
“Clients overseas are against the US$400 (Dh1,469) minimum wage set by our government for household service workers, so recruiters resort to reprocessing,” Mr Geslani said.
His comments follow the cancellation of Manila-based Crosswind International’s licence over complaints filed by two overseas workers, Lorena Saligumba and Diana Lalaine Castillo.
Both admitted they left the Philippines with two air tickets, one for Manila to Dubai and another for Dubai to Jordan.
Ms Saligumba, in her affidavit, said she was hired as a food server in the UAE, but ended up a housemaid in Jordan. She escaped from her abusive employers by jumping out of a window, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), a government agency in Manila.
Ms Castillo was promised a job as a cleaner in the UAE but found herself working as a housemaid in Jordan. She complained of “mistreatment and severe physical abuse” by her employers.
Hans Cacdac, the head of the POEA, said Crosswind committed “acts of misrepresentation” when it recruited and sent the women to work in the Middle East. It also breached the policy on pre-departure orientation seminars, which serve as an introduction to working and living abroad for those about to take jobs overseas.
“Misrepresentation means that they [the companies] fooled the system by making it appear that the women would be working in the UAE when their intention was to send them to Jordan as housemaids,” said Delmer Cruz, the labour attache in Dubai.
“I have encountered cases of Filipinas hired as clerks and office secretaries but ended up as housemaids here in Dubai.”
Workers are issued fake employment visas that they present to Philippine immigration authorities. They dispose of the visas upon arrival in Dubai and instead show immigration officials UAE tourist visas, and are then illegally employed as housemaids.
“One way to prevent reprocessing is to impose sanctions, which the POEA is now doing by cancelling the licences of recruitment agencies,” Mr Geslani said. “But it appears that agencies want to make more money to avoid complying with the reform package. ”
In December 2006, a reform initiative from the POEA required that household staff be paid a minimum monthly wage of $400, be at least 23 years old and not be charged placement fees.
rruiz@thenational.ae
The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Jawan
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Honeymoonish
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SPECS
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
FORSPOKEN
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Company%20profile
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Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars