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Saudi Arabia’s Labor Relations Initiative, which eases contract restrictions on foreign workers, including Filipinos, and allows them to change jobs or leave the country without permission from their employers, will take effect in March 2021.
“This will allow foreign workers the right to change jobs by transferring their sponsorship from one employer to another, to leave and re-enter the country, and to obtain final exit visas without the consent of their employer, which [have] for a long time it is required under the kafala or Saudi Arabian sponsorship system, “the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement on Thursday welcoming the move.
The Philippines has consistently spoken out against the kafala system at the United Nations and in every possible international forum, according to Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.
‘Game changer’
The Philippines’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) called the Saudi government’s initiative a “game changer” in terms of worker protection.
“Kafala has been used to abuse too many Filipino workers abroad,” IOM’s Chief of Mission in the Philippines, Kristin Dadey, said in a tweet.
Dadey congratulated the DFA for working hard to bring about a change in Saudi Arabia’s labor policy, including when he called on other Middle Eastern countries to follow his “bold move.”
The kafala system is a mechanism in the Gulf countries that is used to monitor migrant workers (generally unskilled workers, i.e. domestic service workers, construction workers, service industry workers, etc.) to through a sponsor, usually the employer, who is responsible for your immigration status. and visa. Human rights groups have compared it to “modern slavery.”
Under the system, workers cannot leave their employers or move to other jobs, despite abuse or mistreatment, without the latter’s consent. Critics said workers were treated as the property of their employers.
Saudi Arabia is home to the largest number of migrant workers in the Middle East.
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