The scheme known as “third-country” recruitment was exposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) following complaints from Filipino household service workers (HSWs) in Hong Kong, Singapore and Cyprus.
The HSWs were lured into transferring to another country like Dubai, Mongolia, Turkey and Russia only to find out later that their conditions of employment were miserable or worse, that the offered jobs were non-existent.
Recruitment through a third country is illegal because neither the recruiter nor the employer has authorization from the Philippine government.
The Lilac Center for Public Interest said the jobs being offered in Poland were real and mostly in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. However, it warned Overseas Filipino Workers not to fall prey to the offers of foreign recruiters because it would make them undocumented workers.
“As they are already in a second country, these OFWs no longer pass by or come back to the Philippines before leaving for Poland, hence, they are not documented by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and are, therefore, unprotected,” said Lilac president Nicon Fameronag.
“Over a hundred OFWs in Taiwan had already been victimized by Taiwanese placement agencies, according to reports that had reached us. They prey on Filipinos who are already in Taiwan and in Malaysia, and these OFWs unknowingly fell for the sweet promise of lucrative jobs in Poland by these unscrupulous recruiters,” Fameronag added.
Earlier, the Philippine Association of Service Exports (PASEI), the country’s biggest export service provider, said the government of Poland has opened its labor market to Filipinos and other nationals to fill up shortages of more than 100,000 workers in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, following a marketing mission in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and Austria.
According to PASEI, the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw informed them it had assisted a number of OFWs who reported that they had been duped by a Taiwanese recruiter to work in Poland, only to find out that their work in the country were of short duration, low pay, and miserable conditions.
The Filipino workers allegedly paid recruiters P400,000 to P500,000.
One of the victims, James Mat-an Clemente of Baguio City, was placed in a low-paying factory job and had to “escape” and go to the Philippine Embassy for help, Fameronag said.
The Philippines has no labor office in Warsaw.
One recruitment agency allegedly recruiting OFWs in Taiwan is Global Giant Transmigration Consulting Corporation in Taiching District, Taipei City. Fameronag said Global Giant also owns another agency, or is a partner to one, in Warsaw and recruits OFWs in Taiwan and Malaysia for jobs in Poland.
“We urge Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to direct the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, MECO being under the Office of the President, to coordinate with Taiwanese authorities for this agency to be investigated for its alleged illegal recruitment activities, and possibly, human trafficking, to Poland,” he added.
Fameronag said the government should also monitor OFWs legally deployed to Taiwan because they could be the next victims of this illegal recruitment scheme, particularly if they break and do not finish their contracts, or if they do not return to the Philippines after the end of their contracts.
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