Give donation to Consortium

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Migrante: New immigration rule in KSA puts runaway migrants in "double jeopardy"

 

The largest overseas Filipino workers' (OFW) alliance today urged the government to protest the latest immigration rule in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia that blacklists foreign workers who runaway from their employers.

 

Asserting that hundreds of migrant workers in the Kingdom are forced to runaway from their employers to escape physical/sexual abuse, maltreatment and other unspeakable forms of violence, Migrante International Chairman Garry Martinez said the new rule means "double jeopardy for runaway migrants in Saudi Arabia."

 

"It is like victimizing the victims all over again," he said.

 

"By putting runaway migrant workers in a blacklist, the Saudi government essentially shuts down the chances of these poor migrants' from obtaining justice while their abusive employers go unpunished," Martinez further explained.

 

"This is why we are calling on the Philippine government to take decisive action by protesting this inhumane immigration rule," he said adding:

 

"With the threat of horrific deportation proceedings further aggravated by another threat this time of blacklisting among OFW runaways in the Kingdom; the Philippine government should not be contended with issuing mere warnings on the new rule just like what our Consulate General in Jeddah is doing."

 

"Rather, it should intervene in behalf of our compatriots in the Kingdom and confront this draconian rule head on."

No comments:

Post a Comment