Philippine Workers Banned from 41 Countries ~ Travel and Immigration 101

The Philippines said Wednesday it had banned Filipinos from traveling to work in 41 countries and territories that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect them from abuse. The Department of Labour and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers. Neither have these countries signed agreements with the Philippines "on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers," the resolution said.

They also do not have their own laws protecting foreign workers, it added. Included in the list were strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan. Carlos Cao, head of the government's overseas employment agency, said the 41 countries did not receive too many Filipino workers so a ban would not have a very large effect. "These are the smaller countries with small markets. The negative impact is not going to be very big," he told AFP.

The ban will also not affect Filipino workers who are already in those countries so they will not have to come home until their contracts expire, Cao added. There are an estimated nine million Filipino overseas workers, or about 10 percent of the country's population, official statistics show. Many of them work as maids, labourers or seamen in areas where they are vulnerable to abuse although many Filipinos also work in higher positions in Western nations.

Their dollar remittances have traditionally kept the Philippine economy afloat, although reports of abuse are common. While Manila has in the past banned deployment to some areas locked in conflict, many Filipinos still leave through illegal means rather than take low-paying jobs at home.
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Edited: 05 December 2011

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed the list of 41 countries where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) cannot be deployed.

The list includes prohibited prime destinations like Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Libya.

Aside from these three major OFW destinations, other non-compliant countries included Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chad, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or North Korea, Dominica, East Timor or Timor Leste, Eritrea, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan or Kyrgyz Republic, and Lesotho.

It also included Mali, Mauritania, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, POEA also issued the list of 49 compliant countries on Wednesday, which included Armenia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bermuda, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo Republic, Cook Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Guyana.

It also included Iceland, Ivory Coast or Cote d’Ivoire, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, and Ukraine.

This brings the total number of compliant countries to 125.