Philippine Human Trafficking Victims Struggle to Rebuild Lives After Forced Labor Experience

MANILA, May 5 (Thomson Reuters Organisation) – Four years ago, when Lucy Ortega boarded a chartered government plane returning to her native Philippines, she thought it was the end of her nightmare of being forced to work as a domestic slave in Syria. Ta. However, many new problems await her.

Ortega fell into the trap of human trafficking and was forced to work as a slave for eight years in Syria, where she ran to the Philippine embassy to seek help, where she was held for two years along with other maids. The incident sparked outrage in the Philippines and became global news.

But when she returned home, she found no government compensation for her mistreatment at the embassy, ​​no psychological trauma counseling, and no help to find a job. Ortega, 43, who has three young children, said job opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer.

In an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation from a small wooden house in a slum in the capital Manila, Ortega said, “In the first place, there were no good job opportunities in the Philippines, so I was attracted to the idea of ​​​. ​working abroad. However, after returning home, “It has become increasingly difficult to find work.”

The Philippines is among the top countries in the world as a source of migrant workers. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers to their families back home are estimated to have reached about $40 billion last year, equivalent to about 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The Philippine government pays emergency repatriation costs for workers caught up in wars, political crises, or exploitative labor abroad.

During the coronavirus pandemic, 2.24 million Filipino workers returned home without paying out of pocket. Dozens of Filipino women and their children recently returned temporarily from the Gaza Strip and Israel.

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But as the number of Filipinos getting overseas work permits reaches a record high of about 2.5 million in 2023, human rights activists who work for immigrants are warning. Many people who have returned to the Philippines face problems ranging from unemployment to housing difficulties.

Arman Hernando, president of Migrante Philippines, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said, “According to the latest government data, the Philippines sends 6,800 people abroad every day. If we don’t monitor all those people properly, we will end up in conflict areas.” There is a possibility that the number of Filipinos exposed to the virus will increase further.

“I think we are sending more people out than we can protect,” said Hernando.

Some say the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) must do more to provide support. DMW was established two years ago with the intention of facilitating work related to overseas employment and social reintegration of returning Filipinos.

A study on economic immigration in 2023 by a group of university researchers says reintegration into the country is the “weakest link” in the Philippines’ immigration policy.

To address this concern, DMW established a response headquarters in 2022 to provide emergency return and livelihood assistance to migrant workers in distress.

The problem, Hernando said, is that the DMW only provides emergency assistance, not a comprehensive reintegration plan that would include employment, housing, legal advice or mental health care.

Economic analysts say such a comprehensive approach could encourage foreign workers to return home, foster domestic industry and sustain the long-term growth of the Philippine economy. .

The two government agencies responsible for repatriation, the DMW and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not respond to requests for comment.

Recent returnees from Syria and the Gaza Strip say the government paid for their airfare and gave them emergency grants of 10,000 to 50,000 pesos (about 26,000 to 132,000 yen).

Some people were advised to use the support money to start small businesses.

But Hernando says many migrant workers who have lived abroad for years do not have the social networks they need to start and succeed in business.

According to a study published in 2022 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), very few migrant workers have self-employment experience. The survey found that finding a means of livelihood was identified as the biggest challenge for more than 80% of the workers who returned to the Philippines.

Ortega, who opens the story, leads a support group for 52 domestic workers who are victims of human trafficking and have returned from Syria. Since returning to the Philippines, he has only received 10,000 pesos from the government, and has received no support to help him reintegrate into society.

Ortega now works part-time at a lottery ticket stand, earning less than minimum wage.

“My three children are still in school, so I need a steady job,” Ortega said. They also say they want the government’s help to recover unpaid wages from their Syrian-era employers and seek compensation for the actions of their staff during their time at the embassy.

“We need justice, but we also need money,” Ortega said.

Maria Eliza Alcala (47), who was also a victim of human trafficking and forced to work as a domestic worker, returned from Syria in 2020. She says it is particularly difficult for middle-aged mothers like her to find work because of discrimination based on age.

“No one wants to hire me,” Alcala said. At the moment, she is looking after her 85-year-old mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, in exchange for a free place to live away from her siblings.

As well as finding work, returning workers say finding temporary housing and accommodation is a big challenge.

Dozens of women who moved from the Gaza Strip recently moved to live with students in a university dormitory. An interview with a local non-governmental organization (NGO) revealed that there was no place for them to stay.

One of the returnees from Gaza, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “The government authorities told us to go back to our respective towns. (Omitted) But we don’t know anyone and we don’t have a home waiting for us.’ ‘I don’t have a job,’ he said.

According to Alcala, some Syrian returnees have lost hope of finding work in their homeland and are taking risks, especially during the coronavirus pandemic when the unemployment rate reached 10.3% It is said that some people have decided to go abroad again.

Working abroad is always a gamble, says Hernando. But some take that risk because they don’t have enough support in their home countries.

“It’s a matter of time whether it goes well or not,” Hernando said. “But they have no place in the Philippines either, so many of them are leaving the country again, despite suffering exploitation abroad.”

(Translation: Airkreren)

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