Filipino Expats Qatar

Press Release: July 4, 2008
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Migrante ME to DFA: OFWs never surrender their passports, submission required by employer under sponsorship system

An alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations based in the Middle East today said that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should be reminded that OFWs never surrender their passport; submission is required by the employer under sponsorship system upon arrival and report to work.

On July 3, Executive Director Crescente Relacion of DFA’s Migrant Workers Affairs confirmed that “it is illegal to surrender a Philippine passport to a foreigner” as he told GMAnews.tv

“We would like to remind the DFA particularly Director Relacion that as OFWs we are very much aware that our passport solely belongs to us, our personal property, and we did not voluntarily surrender it to our employers; rather our employers required us to submit it to them upon arrival and reporting for work, for what reason? - because they are our sponsor,” Monterona added.

Monterona said that Director Relacion’s statement “it is illegal to surrender a passport to a foreigner” is a sweeping statement and without basis which suggest that OFWs simply surrender their passport to their employer, thus only to be blamed by themselves.

The OFW leader said that to make it clear and for the information of Director Relacion and the DFA, it is against OFW’s will to give his or her passport to its employer, and should stop implicating OFWs doing illegal because he “surrenders” his passport to his employer.

“Director Relacion should be corrected. As a technocrat sitting only on the corners of his office, it is obvious that he has no real knowledge on the actual experiences of OFWs with regards to sponsorship system wherein employers could require OFWs to surrender their passport and this signals the commencement of OFWs indentured servitude to his employer,” Monterona added.

“The DFA should better urge host government to tell all Saudi employers (both individual and firms) that keeping and holding their migrant workers passport is illegal, and thus to refrain from doing it,” thus said John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante Middle East.

“Director Relacion should suggest to his Boss in the DFA and Malacanang to send an official diplomatic letter to Saudi government to study and seriously consider the abolishment of the sponsorship system as a first step to advance OFWs right and welfare” Monterona ended. # # #

For Reference:
John Leonard Monterona
regional coordinator
Migrante Middle East
Mobile No.: 00966 564 97 8012