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An estimated 300,000 Philippine domestic service workers (HSW) or home assistants are not covered by the labor reforms that Saudi Arabia will introduce next year.
The kingdom will abolish the “kafala” system and allow foreign workers to leave, re-enter and obtain exit visas from Saudi Arabia without the permission of their employer.
The abolition of kafala will benefit 10 million migrant workers, including Filipino Overseas Workers (OFW).
But the TSS, the most vulnerable sector of migrant workers, are among the five job categories that are not covered by the reform program that will be implemented in March.
Private drivers, home guards, shepherds, and gardeners or farmers are also not covered.
The Bishop of Balanga, Ruperto Santos, is concerned that domestic workers are “open and prone to abuse and exploitation,” and has asked the Philippine authorities to appeal on their behalf.
“With kafala, they are reluctantly tied to their employers as if they were ‘property’ of them. His movements are reduced and [they] I can’t leave the country, ”Santos said.
The kingdom has been the top job destination for Filipino domestic workers for the past 10 years. Of the estimated three million OFWs worldwide, around 700,000 are in Saudi Arabia.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said on Wednesday that there is a Special Labor Agreement between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia on the protection of Filipino domestic workers.
Apart from Saudi Arabia, Qatar has also implemented a similar labor reform that will benefit 241,000 Filipino workers, including high-speed workers. Bahrain abolished its kafala system in 2009. But the repressive system is still in place in Lebanon and most of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
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