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The Department of Foreign Relations (DFA) yesterday applauded the initiative of Saudi Arabia to abolish the “Kafala” or sponsorship system.
This is a system used to monitor migrant workers, working mainly in the construction and domestic sectors in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and some neighboring countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia’s “Labor Relations Initiative” passes the measure to abolish Kafala, a new measure that will allow foreign workers the right to change jobs by transferring their sponsorship from one employer to another, leaving and re-entering the country and obtain final exit visas. without the consent of your employer.
According to the Department of Foreign Affiliates (DFA), the Philippines has been championing the Kafala system at the United Nations and in other international forums.
Saudi Arabia has officially partnered with Bahrain, one of the first countries to abolish the system, through the Head of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority, Ausamah Al-Absi, in its labor reform movement through the Flexi Visa System which now allows undocumented / irregular workers to acquire regular immigration status without an employer sponsor.
The Philippines also pioneered the international negotiation and adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) to protect all Filipino migrant workers against all forms of exploitation and abuse, and to ensure decent work, in accordance with the express directive of the president that no OFW be the slave of anyone.
In line with this progressive move in the Kingdom, the Philippines also recognizes recent developments in Qatar as the first country in the Arab Gulf region to allow all migrant workers to change jobs before their contracts end without first obtaining the consent of your employer.
Saudi Arabia is one of the Middle Eastern countries with the highest number of Filipino migrant workers, estimated at 865,121 Filipino migrant workers in December 2019.
The recruitment industry also welcomes Saudi Arabia’s decision to abolish Kafala “which would improve the employment relationship between the worker and their employer and lead to a better working environment for millions of expatriate workers in the country,” said the consultant. hiring Manny Geslani.
He said that under the new labor initiative of the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, between 300 and 400,000 Filipino domestic workers or domestic service workers are not included in the same labor reform.
He said that five professions are not covered by the initiative, such as private driver, house guard, domestic worker, pastor and gardener or farmer.
He said the new initiative allows for greater labor mobility and regulates the issuance of exit and re-entry visas and final exit visas without the approval of the employer. It applies to all expatriate workers, except for the five categories mentioned above, and includes specific control measures implemented to take into account the rights of both parties to the contractual relationship.
Millions of expatriate workers are expected to benefit from these reform measures.
Saudi Arabia has the highest number of TSSs for decades “and the non-inclusion of labor reform for our domestic workers will be a blow to the government’s efforts to improve the working conditions of our domestic workers,” Geslani added.
Although there is a Special Labor Agreement signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia regarding the treatment of our domestic workers, Geslani said that some employers in the Middle East are not following this agreement to the letter.
Under the agreement, employers cannot retain passports, a special bank deposit must be opened on behalf of the worker where his salary will be deposited directly by the employers, working hours reduced, and a day off is provided under the agreement.
