Nation Immigration & Visas Published:
24/10/2005, 08:36 (UAE)
Gulf News.Com
By Sunita Menon and Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporters Dubai:
Authorities in Dubai have stopped issuing visit visas for people from Bangladesh, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Niger, Iraq and Nigeria, a Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department official said yesterday.
The official, who did not wish to be named, said that family visas for people from the six nations would be issued only after the approval of the director general or the deputy director of the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).
The official did not know when the visa issue would be resumed. Senior DNRD officials were not available for comment.
A senior Bangladesh official at the Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi however confirmed that issuance of visit visas for Bangladeshis has been stopped due to illegal visa trade by unscrupulous agents.
Representatives of the five other countries were not available for comment.
Officials at the Bangladeshi embassy as well as the consulate said that they had received enquiries made by Bangladeshis about the stopping of visas.
"The reason behind suspending the issuing of visit visas for Bangladeshis is due to the illegal visa trade," said Mirza Shamsuzzaman, the Bangladesh ambassador.
He said during the past year a growing number of Bangladeshis had been conned by dishonest agents into buying visit visas for a large fee.
"Many have fallen victim to the visa trade and it has caught media attention in Bangladesh. Some people have also approached me for assistance to get their money back from the agents," said Shamsuzzaman.
"The agents sell the visit visa for 200,000 taka (Dh11,182) to people who are looking for employment overseas. The victims are often illiterate Bangladeshis from villages," Shamsuzzaman added.
He said the matter had been discussed with the UAE foreign ministry, which had assured him that the temporary suspension of issuing visit visa should not be taken as discrimination against the community.
"There are about 400,000 Bangladeshis in the UAE and there is a high demand for Bangladeshi manpower," said Shamsuzzaman.
Kamrul Ahsan, the Bangladesh consul general, told Gulf News that he too had received complaints from Bangladeshis about not being able to bring their relatives to the UAE on a visit visa.
A few Bangladeshis who spoke to Gulf News said they were disappointed when informed by the enquiry desk at the DNRD that they will not be able to apply for a visa.
A Bangladeshi resident said: "Initially I called the DNRD customer service for information on the working hours. I was informed by them that visit as well as family visas for Bangladeshis have been temporarily stopped."
Monday, October 24, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
4,775 jailed Pinoys all over the world
Aside from diplomacy, the Department of Foreign Affairs has also been busy providing legal assistance to at least 4,775 Filipinos — of which 1,103 are women — who are languishing in foreign prisons as of the end of 2004, Senator Ralph Recto said yesterday.
Citing an official report from DFA, Recto said the number of “prisoner OFWs” is about 10 percent of the number of current domestic prisoners.
“The dispersal of Filipinos worldwide has also resulted in the incarceration of a few of them in diverse places. Some of those who have joined the great Filipino diaspora have never found their own ‘Promised Land,’” Recto said.
Of the 82 Philippine diplomatic posts abroad, only 12 reported that there was no Filipino detained or awaiting trial in their area of jurisdiction, Recto said, noting that most of the Filipinos imprisoned violated immigration laws.
Recto said the DFA’s global situationer on OFWs revealed that at least 1,200 Filipinos were detained in Malaysia, mostly in Sabah, following the country’s crackdown on undocumented workers.
Next to Malaysia was Israel, where the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv reported that 1,028 Filipinos were facing charges in court. Those not out on bail are detained in jails in Ramle, Hadera, Nazareth, Beersheva and Holon.
Others were caught trying to sneak into the country without papers, as in the case of 13 Filipinos caught in Croatia.
Recto said the other countries with Filipino prisoners were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
“But many Filipinos in five continents were facing charges other than those that pertain to work or immigration concerns. Name it, they allegedly did it,” Recto said.
“One OFW issued fake checks in Vietnam. A nurse in Ireland was arrested for alleged Al Qaida links. A Filipina physical therapist in Michigan allegedly committed health fraud, and an aircraft engineer was arrested for smuggling contrabands into Nigeria,” he added.
In many Muslim countries, Filipinos were arrested and jailed for drinking alcohol, he said.
Recto also noted the rise in the number of Filipino women arrested for serving as “mules” or couriers of international drug syndicates.
There were also Filipinas in jails in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Hong Kong and Peru, among others, last year.
Other cases mentioned in the DFA report involved crimes of passion, including detention of a Filipino in a South American country for seducing teenagers.
In view of the rising number of Filipino prisoners abroad, Recto asked Congress to increase the DFA’s legal assistance fund in the proposed 2006 General Appropriations Act.
Citing an official report from DFA, Recto said the number of “prisoner OFWs” is about 10 percent of the number of current domestic prisoners.
“The dispersal of Filipinos worldwide has also resulted in the incarceration of a few of them in diverse places. Some of those who have joined the great Filipino diaspora have never found their own ‘Promised Land,’” Recto said.
Of the 82 Philippine diplomatic posts abroad, only 12 reported that there was no Filipino detained or awaiting trial in their area of jurisdiction, Recto said, noting that most of the Filipinos imprisoned violated immigration laws.
Recto said the DFA’s global situationer on OFWs revealed that at least 1,200 Filipinos were detained in Malaysia, mostly in Sabah, following the country’s crackdown on undocumented workers.
Next to Malaysia was Israel, where the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv reported that 1,028 Filipinos were facing charges in court. Those not out on bail are detained in jails in Ramle, Hadera, Nazareth, Beersheva and Holon.
Others were caught trying to sneak into the country without papers, as in the case of 13 Filipinos caught in Croatia.
Recto said the other countries with Filipino prisoners were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
“But many Filipinos in five continents were facing charges other than those that pertain to work or immigration concerns. Name it, they allegedly did it,” Recto said.
“One OFW issued fake checks in Vietnam. A nurse in Ireland was arrested for alleged Al Qaida links. A Filipina physical therapist in Michigan allegedly committed health fraud, and an aircraft engineer was arrested for smuggling contrabands into Nigeria,” he added.
In many Muslim countries, Filipinos were arrested and jailed for drinking alcohol, he said.
Recto also noted the rise in the number of Filipino women arrested for serving as “mules” or couriers of international drug syndicates.
There were also Filipinas in jails in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Hong Kong and Peru, among others, last year.
Other cases mentioned in the DFA report involved crimes of passion, including detention of a Filipino in a South American country for seducing teenagers.
In view of the rising number of Filipino prisoners abroad, Recto asked Congress to increase the DFA’s legal assistance fund in the proposed 2006 General Appropriations Act.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
US to crack down harder on illegal immigrants
First posted 01:12pm (Mla time)
Oct 19, 2005
Agence France-Presse
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=3&story_id=53837
WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush signed a new budget for the Homeland Security department Tuesday that sharply boosts funding to fight illegal immigration, as the department's head said they would now expel without exception all illegal immigrants.
The bill totaled 30.8 billion dollars in discretionary spending, 1.8 billion dollars higher than the current year's budget.
Of the total, 7.5 billion dollars is committed to fight the rising number of illegal immigrants in the country."We've got to strengthen security along our borders to stop people from entering illegally," Bush said.
"We're going to make this country safer for all our citizens," he said.
The government will also make stronger efforts to search out and deport illegal immigrants already in the country, Bush said."We must improve our ability to find and apprehend illegal immigrants who have made it across the border," he said.
"We've got to work to ensure that those who are caught are returned to their home countries as soon as possible," he said.
Buh's statement followed comments by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff earlier Tuesday that his department aims to expel all illegal immigrants without exception.
"Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions," Chertoff told a Senate hearing.
"It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," he said.The Homeland Security budget includes 2.3 billion dollars for the US Border Patrol, and millions of dollars for increasing and improving border fences and technological surveillance.
The increased budget will enable the government hire 100 more immigration department agents and 250 investigators.
Prison space will be expanded by about 10 percent, or 2,000 beds, to accommodate the expected increase in apprehensions of illegal immigrants who are not Mexicans.
Chertoff told senators that currently a non-Mexican illegal imigrant caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately because of the shortage of holding facilities.
"We are moving to end this 'catch and release' style of border enforcement by reengineering our detention and removal process," Chertoff said.Bush meanwhile explained a separate strategy for Mexicans, who comprise by far the largest number of illegal immigrants in the country.
Rather than just forcing captured immigrants back over the order, under a new program called "Interior Repatriation," he US will fly or bus Mexican illegal immigrants all the way back to their hometowns.
"Many of these folks are coming from the interior of Mexico, and so the farther away from the border we send them, the more difficult it will be for them to turn around and cross right back into America," Bush said.
"By returning Mexicans to their homes, far away from desert crossing, we're helping to save lives," he said.
Chertoff's remarks in favor of returning "every illegal entrant, no exceptions" raised questions of an apparent conflict with the US policy toward illegal Cuban immigrants.
Though Cubans picked up at sea heading for US shores are returned to their country, those who reach US soil by any means are allowed to stay and work -- a policy Cuba says encourages dangerous attempts to get into the United States.
Oct 19, 2005
Agence France-Presse
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=3&story_id=53837
WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush signed a new budget for the Homeland Security department Tuesday that sharply boosts funding to fight illegal immigration, as the department's head said they would now expel without exception all illegal immigrants.
The bill totaled 30.8 billion dollars in discretionary spending, 1.8 billion dollars higher than the current year's budget.
Of the total, 7.5 billion dollars is committed to fight the rising number of illegal immigrants in the country."We've got to strengthen security along our borders to stop people from entering illegally," Bush said.
"We're going to make this country safer for all our citizens," he said.
The government will also make stronger efforts to search out and deport illegal immigrants already in the country, Bush said."We must improve our ability to find and apprehend illegal immigrants who have made it across the border," he said.
"We've got to work to ensure that those who are caught are returned to their home countries as soon as possible," he said.
Buh's statement followed comments by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff earlier Tuesday that his department aims to expel all illegal immigrants without exception.
"Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions," Chertoff told a Senate hearing.
"It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," he said.The Homeland Security budget includes 2.3 billion dollars for the US Border Patrol, and millions of dollars for increasing and improving border fences and technological surveillance.
The increased budget will enable the government hire 100 more immigration department agents and 250 investigators.
Prison space will be expanded by about 10 percent, or 2,000 beds, to accommodate the expected increase in apprehensions of illegal immigrants who are not Mexicans.
Chertoff told senators that currently a non-Mexican illegal imigrant caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately because of the shortage of holding facilities.
"We are moving to end this 'catch and release' style of border enforcement by reengineering our detention and removal process," Chertoff said.Bush meanwhile explained a separate strategy for Mexicans, who comprise by far the largest number of illegal immigrants in the country.
Rather than just forcing captured immigrants back over the order, under a new program called "Interior Repatriation," he US will fly or bus Mexican illegal immigrants all the way back to their hometowns.
"Many of these folks are coming from the interior of Mexico, and so the farther away from the border we send them, the more difficult it will be for them to turn around and cross right back into America," Bush said.
"By returning Mexicans to their homes, far away from desert crossing, we're helping to save lives," he said.
Chertoff's remarks in favor of returning "every illegal entrant, no exceptions" raised questions of an apparent conflict with the US policy toward illegal Cuban immigrants.
Though Cubans picked up at sea heading for US shores are returned to their country, those who reach US soil by any means are allowed to stay and work -- a policy Cuba says encourages dangerous attempts to get into the United States.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
International shipping firms prefer Filipino seafarers, MARINA says
Dumaguete City, Philippines
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2005/October/18/negor4.htm
Competence and skills make Filipino seafarers the most sought-after in the international shipping industry despite the low labor rates by their counterparts from China, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh, Maritime Industry Authority regional director Glenn Cabañez said at the recent Kapihan sa PIA.
This was held in line with the National Maritime Week celebration on the theme "A Globally Competitive Maritime Industry: A Key to a Strong Republic." Officer-in-charge, Evelia Durato, of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration agreed with Cabañez that the Philippines is still the manning capital of the world in exporting qualified seafarers.
In 2002, the country deployed about 209,593 seafarers abroad and since then, the number of deployment has increased by 2.3 percent every year, Durato added. She also aired the same concern over the low salary rates particularly to Chinese seafarers.
She said that a Chinese seafarer with an ordinary seaman rank is paid only US$ 50/month compared to his Filipino counterpart with wages between US $200-300/month. Filipino seafarers rank fourth in the largest number of deployed Overseas Filipino Workers. Skilled workers, medical professionals, and domestic workers follow.
Cabañez said they will soon issue separate licensures to seafarers in the domestic and international shipping industry under different criteria and qualifications.
In order to help the domestic shipping sector hire only qualified and competent seafarers, the MARINA-7 also issues qualifying document certificates.*RG
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2005/October/18/negor4.htm
Competence and skills make Filipino seafarers the most sought-after in the international shipping industry despite the low labor rates by their counterparts from China, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh, Maritime Industry Authority regional director Glenn Cabañez said at the recent Kapihan sa PIA.
This was held in line with the National Maritime Week celebration on the theme "A Globally Competitive Maritime Industry: A Key to a Strong Republic." Officer-in-charge, Evelia Durato, of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration agreed with Cabañez that the Philippines is still the manning capital of the world in exporting qualified seafarers.
In 2002, the country deployed about 209,593 seafarers abroad and since then, the number of deployment has increased by 2.3 percent every year, Durato added. She also aired the same concern over the low salary rates particularly to Chinese seafarers.
She said that a Chinese seafarer with an ordinary seaman rank is paid only US$ 50/month compared to his Filipino counterpart with wages between US $200-300/month. Filipino seafarers rank fourth in the largest number of deployed Overseas Filipino Workers. Skilled workers, medical professionals, and domestic workers follow.
Cabañez said they will soon issue separate licensures to seafarers in the domestic and international shipping industry under different criteria and qualifications.
In order to help the domestic shipping sector hire only qualified and competent seafarers, the MARINA-7 also issues qualifying document certificates.*RG
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Groups discuss adverse impact of unabated migration of nurses, docs
MindaNews / 15 October 2005
http://www.mindanews.com/2005/10/15nws-nurses.htm
DAVAO CITY -- A global union of health workers is initiating this month a dialogue with key government officials and an international campaign on the adverse impact of “unabated” migration of nurses and other health professionals from poorer nations on the quality of health services worldwide.
The Public Services International (PSI) has teamed up with its domestic counterpart, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLink) for the dialogue and to raise awareness on the problems created by continuing migration of health professionals.
PSLink, in statement released today, said it will hold dialogues this month with officials of the Philippine Overseas and Employment Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Department of Health.
PSLink said it expects a delegation of health workers affiliated with PSI from Sri Lanka, Fiji, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States of America, Canada, Japan and the Philippines to join the dialogue with labor and foreign affairs officials at the POEA headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
Jillian Roque, PSLink national secretariat member coordinating the event, said that immediately after the dialogue, the delegates will hold a three-day “partnership meeting” at the Grand Men Seng Hotel here starting October 25 to discuss ways at raising public awareness on the problems of continuing migration of nurses and health workers.
Awareness campaign plans formulated during the workshop and meetings here “will be implemented nationally, regionally and internationally,” Roque said.She said the meeting also aims to develop possible bilateral cooperation between health workers from sending and receiving country.
Roque said PSI and PSLink jointly initiated the activity in response to recent warnings from the World Health Organization and the domestic Alliance of Health Workers on the troubling trend of outward migration of nurses and other health professionals from the country.
A recent study conducted by the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies, the National Institutes of Health Philippines, University of the Philippines Manila and the Health Science Center noted an increasing trend of deployment of nurses abroad from about 5,747 in 1992 to about 13,536 persons in 2001.The number of nurses tapered off to around 8,968 persons in 2003 but the number of nursing graduates produced yearly during these years outnumbered the projected demand for nurses.
The study noted that at present there are a total of 332,205 nurses in the country but the demand here and abroad only reaches 193,223 nurses.
The study also noted that the migrating health workers from the country are predominantly female and are between the ages of 20 to 30 with specialized training on critical care in nursing, operating room, delivery room and emergency room, and with one to ten year working experiences.
The study noted a combination of factors has driven the nurses away. Among these are low salaries, lack or inadequacy of hazard payments, low coverage of insurance, overload and stressful working condition, slow promotion, limited opportunities for employment, decreasing government budget on health care and the declining peace and order condition in the country.
The study said positive working conditions like high income, benefits and compensation packages, opportunities for skills upgrading, advance medical technlogy and better peace conditions are enticing the nurses to move abroad.
But the study also noted that as a consequence of the draining number of health workers, the country is losing senior and competent health staff. Health care in the country has also been “compromised” due to inadequate staff and poor pool of skilled health workers.
Some hospitals have also closed shop because there are not enough applicants for required residency programs.
PSLink, in its statement said the negative implications of the health workers’ migration worsen the condition of health care in the country. The country is already reeling from problems of inadequate budget and unresolved issues on the “exploitative treatment” of Filipino migrant workers. #
http://www.mindanews.com/2005/10/15nws-nurses.htm
DAVAO CITY -- A global union of health workers is initiating this month a dialogue with key government officials and an international campaign on the adverse impact of “unabated” migration of nurses and other health professionals from poorer nations on the quality of health services worldwide.
The Public Services International (PSI) has teamed up with its domestic counterpart, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLink) for the dialogue and to raise awareness on the problems created by continuing migration of health professionals.
PSLink, in statement released today, said it will hold dialogues this month with officials of the Philippine Overseas and Employment Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Department of Health.
PSLink said it expects a delegation of health workers affiliated with PSI from Sri Lanka, Fiji, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States of America, Canada, Japan and the Philippines to join the dialogue with labor and foreign affairs officials at the POEA headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
Jillian Roque, PSLink national secretariat member coordinating the event, said that immediately after the dialogue, the delegates will hold a three-day “partnership meeting” at the Grand Men Seng Hotel here starting October 25 to discuss ways at raising public awareness on the problems of continuing migration of nurses and health workers.
Awareness campaign plans formulated during the workshop and meetings here “will be implemented nationally, regionally and internationally,” Roque said.She said the meeting also aims to develop possible bilateral cooperation between health workers from sending and receiving country.
Roque said PSI and PSLink jointly initiated the activity in response to recent warnings from the World Health Organization and the domestic Alliance of Health Workers on the troubling trend of outward migration of nurses and other health professionals from the country.
A recent study conducted by the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies, the National Institutes of Health Philippines, University of the Philippines Manila and the Health Science Center noted an increasing trend of deployment of nurses abroad from about 5,747 in 1992 to about 13,536 persons in 2001.The number of nurses tapered off to around 8,968 persons in 2003 but the number of nursing graduates produced yearly during these years outnumbered the projected demand for nurses.
The study noted that at present there are a total of 332,205 nurses in the country but the demand here and abroad only reaches 193,223 nurses.
The study also noted that the migrating health workers from the country are predominantly female and are between the ages of 20 to 30 with specialized training on critical care in nursing, operating room, delivery room and emergency room, and with one to ten year working experiences.
The study noted a combination of factors has driven the nurses away. Among these are low salaries, lack or inadequacy of hazard payments, low coverage of insurance, overload and stressful working condition, slow promotion, limited opportunities for employment, decreasing government budget on health care and the declining peace and order condition in the country.
The study said positive working conditions like high income, benefits and compensation packages, opportunities for skills upgrading, advance medical technlogy and better peace conditions are enticing the nurses to move abroad.
But the study also noted that as a consequence of the draining number of health workers, the country is losing senior and competent health staff. Health care in the country has also been “compromised” due to inadequate staff and poor pool of skilled health workers.
Some hospitals have also closed shop because there are not enough applicants for required residency programs.
PSLink, in its statement said the negative implications of the health workers’ migration worsen the condition of health care in the country. The country is already reeling from problems of inadequate budget and unresolved issues on the “exploitative treatment” of Filipino migrant workers. #
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Saudi Arabia to allow more women workers, more benefits for them
10/13
3:22:37 PM
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH101320053786_15.htm
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Thursday reported that a new labor law has been passed by the Saudi Council of Ministers in line with the priority agenda of King Abdullah in addressing the problem of unemployment in the Kingdom.
Citing a report from Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bahnarim Guinomla, Acting Labor and Employment Secretary Manuel G. Imson said that one of the salient features of the new law include allowing women to work in all fields and their entitlement to maternity leave.
Imson said the new law also imposes an obligation on employers providing jobs to 50 women or more to arrange for babysitters who will take care of their children below six years old. The new law, he added, also requires companies to have at least 75 percent of their workforce to be Saudi nationals. However, this may be subject to reduction in instances where there is a shortage of qualified hands required by the companies, Imson said.
The new law also directed the Saudi Labor Ministry to establish employment offices that will provide free services to jobseekers and employers.
It also covers certain categories of workers for the first time including mine workers and the law aims to protect the rights of workers and ensures a balanced relationship between employers and employees.
The new labor law would surely impact on our overseas Filipino workers in that part of the region as the law is the realization of the Saudization plan of the Kingdom as well as its applicability to female OFWs deployed in that country, Imson said. #
3:22:37 PM
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH101320053786_15.htm
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Thursday reported that a new labor law has been passed by the Saudi Council of Ministers in line with the priority agenda of King Abdullah in addressing the problem of unemployment in the Kingdom.
Citing a report from Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bahnarim Guinomla, Acting Labor and Employment Secretary Manuel G. Imson said that one of the salient features of the new law include allowing women to work in all fields and their entitlement to maternity leave.
Imson said the new law also imposes an obligation on employers providing jobs to 50 women or more to arrange for babysitters who will take care of their children below six years old. The new law, he added, also requires companies to have at least 75 percent of their workforce to be Saudi nationals. However, this may be subject to reduction in instances where there is a shortage of qualified hands required by the companies, Imson said.
The new law also directed the Saudi Labor Ministry to establish employment offices that will provide free services to jobseekers and employers.
It also covers certain categories of workers for the first time including mine workers and the law aims to protect the rights of workers and ensures a balanced relationship between employers and employees.
The new labor law would surely impact on our overseas Filipino workers in that part of the region as the law is the realization of the Saudization plan of the Kingdom as well as its applicability to female OFWs deployed in that country, Imson said. #
Saturday, October 08, 2005
More remittances from women emphasize feminization of migration – ADB study
By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
OFW Journalism Consortium
Saturday, 08 October, 2005
http://www.cyberdyaryo.com/features/f2005_1008_02.htm
MANILA – Southeast Asian women migrant workers, of which over a half are Filipinas, sent more money than male workers to their home countries, a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed. An estimated 2.182 million contract workers and immigrants, largely women, remitted some US$3.3 billion from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia "on monthly averages ranging from US$300 to US$500," said the ADB study Southeast Asian Workers´ Remittances.
This development surrounding remittances from Southeast Asian migrants reflects the significant trend of increasing number of female migrants from Southeast Asia, "especially those who independently decide to migrate", the study cited.
"The human movement involved in labor migration is of obvious economic importance and… (labor export) has become the largest single foreign exchange earning activity, outweighing commodity exports, in a number of Asian labor-surplus nations," added the study, presented by the ADB in a conference last September.
Women dominate migrant volumes Citing estimates on the volume of migrants in East Asia, the ADB said there are 1.423 million Asian migrant workers in Japan, 621,400 foreign workers in Singapore, 1.43 million documented and 400,000 undocumented migrants in Malaysia, and 340,000 foreigners in Hong Kong.
From those estimates by the four East Asian host countries, 240,000 female migrant workers in Hong Kong are Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers, while some 230,000 of the 240,000 maids in Malaysia are Indonesians.
Some 180,000 migrants in Japan are Filipinas, mostly as overseas performing artists (OPAs), and 150,000 of Singapore's 621,400 foreign workers with work permits are mostly Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers. ADB noted there were a "large number of single women working in a country other than their own, in large part to support family members through (their) remittances¨. "These women overwhelmingly work in domestic labor situations.
In addition to frequent employer pressure upon workers and would-be migrants, these women tend to face numerous challenges, some but not all of which are worse because of their sex.
Meanwhile, the sex industry is another likely arena where women migrants work," the ADB study added. Estimated remittances From the US$3.3 billion estimated remittances from those Southeast Asian women migrants (see table 1), the study said Filipino migrants remitted US$2.3 billion, Indonesians remitted about US$0.7 million, and Malaysians sent back to their country about US$0.27 million.
Of these amounts, more than half of the Asian migrant workers, especially Filipinas, were domestic workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, and as entertainers in Japan, wrote the study. The volume of remittances, ADB added, may be higher "if estimates of undocumented workers are included".
The ADB study was based on a survey of 2,500 Filipino, Indonesian, and Malaysian remitters who send money from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. Filipinos and Indonesians in the four East Asian states were surveyed, while Malaysians in Japan and Singapore were made part of the survey, as Malaysia was considered both a country that sends out and receives migrants – the latter including Filipinos and Indonesians.
In the respondents´ profile of the study, 58 percent of Filipino remitter-respondents in Japan, 97 percent of those in Hong Kong, 88 percent of those in Singapore, and 58 percent of those in Malaysia were women. Women comprise 65% of OFW deploymentBased on Philippine labor department data, nearly 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday for work or residence abroad, adding to the stock estimate of a total eight million Filipinos living and working temporarily or residing permanently in 197 countries worldwide.
Government data shows that over-65 percent of these deployed overseas workers are women. Deployment data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) confirms that most of the Filipinas in Japan are overseas performing artists (OPAs), and those in Hong Kong and Singapore are mostly workers.
Meanwhile, a majority of the Filipinos in Malaysia are undocumented migrants in Sabah island that crossed the border from Western Mindanao.
If the estimates of this latest ADB study on the remittances of Filipinos in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong are correct, these are higher than 2004 actual remittance figures by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in those countries.
Multilaterals´ efforts on remittances Funded by the Japan Special Fund (JSF), these data comes from the Bank's second major study on remittances –the first being the 2004 study titled Enhancing the Efficiency of Overseas Workers' Remittances. ADB spent US$650,000 for the Philippine and Southeast Asian remittances studies.
Apart from culling estimates of remittances, the latest study analyzed migration trends in Southeast Asia; how both senders and receivers of remittances use the money; the regulatory framework on remittances; the remittance industry in these countries; and financial intermediation initiatives.
During the conference Remittances and Poverty Reduction: Learning from Regional Experiences and Perspectives that the ADB, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) co-convened on September 12 to 13 in Manila, ADB vice president Liqun Jin said the Bank sees its role "as a focal point for research and development of remittances in Asia".
While the ADB, Jin said, "stepped up its efforts in addressing remittances concerns in the past two years" through "substantial research and policy development initiatives," IDB's MIF has "convened conferences, commissioned studies and surveys, and financed projects on the volume, transaction cost and the potential development impact of remittances," its website wrote. IDB-MIF, from 2001 to August 2005, has financed remittances projects through non-refundable technical cooperation grants and loans to the tune of US$40,030,653, information in www.migrantremittances.org revealed.
Jin said that US$53 billion (or 42 percent) of the world's US$127 billion total of remittances coursed through banks in 2004 come from Asia. India, the Philippines, China and Pakistan are among the top five remittance receiving countries worldwide – the Philippines being number three.
ADB, a multilateral development finance institution with 64 member-countries, annually lends about US$6 billion to members, and provides technical assistance usually totaling about US$180 million a year. Cyberdyaryo 10/08/05
OFW Journalism Consortium
Saturday, 08 October, 2005
http://www.cyberdyaryo.com/features/f2005_1008_02.htm
MANILA – Southeast Asian women migrant workers, of which over a half are Filipinas, sent more money than male workers to their home countries, a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed. An estimated 2.182 million contract workers and immigrants, largely women, remitted some US$3.3 billion from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia "on monthly averages ranging from US$300 to US$500," said the ADB study Southeast Asian Workers´ Remittances.
This development surrounding remittances from Southeast Asian migrants reflects the significant trend of increasing number of female migrants from Southeast Asia, "especially those who independently decide to migrate", the study cited.
"The human movement involved in labor migration is of obvious economic importance and… (labor export) has become the largest single foreign exchange earning activity, outweighing commodity exports, in a number of Asian labor-surplus nations," added the study, presented by the ADB in a conference last September.
Women dominate migrant volumes Citing estimates on the volume of migrants in East Asia, the ADB said there are 1.423 million Asian migrant workers in Japan, 621,400 foreign workers in Singapore, 1.43 million documented and 400,000 undocumented migrants in Malaysia, and 340,000 foreigners in Hong Kong.
From those estimates by the four East Asian host countries, 240,000 female migrant workers in Hong Kong are Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers, while some 230,000 of the 240,000 maids in Malaysia are Indonesians.
Some 180,000 migrants in Japan are Filipinas, mostly as overseas performing artists (OPAs), and 150,000 of Singapore's 621,400 foreign workers with work permits are mostly Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers. ADB noted there were a "large number of single women working in a country other than their own, in large part to support family members through (their) remittances¨. "These women overwhelmingly work in domestic labor situations.
In addition to frequent employer pressure upon workers and would-be migrants, these women tend to face numerous challenges, some but not all of which are worse because of their sex.
Meanwhile, the sex industry is another likely arena where women migrants work," the ADB study added. Estimated remittances From the US$3.3 billion estimated remittances from those Southeast Asian women migrants (see table 1), the study said Filipino migrants remitted US$2.3 billion, Indonesians remitted about US$0.7 million, and Malaysians sent back to their country about US$0.27 million.
Of these amounts, more than half of the Asian migrant workers, especially Filipinas, were domestic workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, and as entertainers in Japan, wrote the study. The volume of remittances, ADB added, may be higher "if estimates of undocumented workers are included".
The ADB study was based on a survey of 2,500 Filipino, Indonesian, and Malaysian remitters who send money from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. Filipinos and Indonesians in the four East Asian states were surveyed, while Malaysians in Japan and Singapore were made part of the survey, as Malaysia was considered both a country that sends out and receives migrants – the latter including Filipinos and Indonesians.
In the respondents´ profile of the study, 58 percent of Filipino remitter-respondents in Japan, 97 percent of those in Hong Kong, 88 percent of those in Singapore, and 58 percent of those in Malaysia were women. Women comprise 65% of OFW deploymentBased on Philippine labor department data, nearly 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday for work or residence abroad, adding to the stock estimate of a total eight million Filipinos living and working temporarily or residing permanently in 197 countries worldwide.
Government data shows that over-65 percent of these deployed overseas workers are women. Deployment data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) confirms that most of the Filipinas in Japan are overseas performing artists (OPAs), and those in Hong Kong and Singapore are mostly workers.
Meanwhile, a majority of the Filipinos in Malaysia are undocumented migrants in Sabah island that crossed the border from Western Mindanao.
If the estimates of this latest ADB study on the remittances of Filipinos in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong are correct, these are higher than 2004 actual remittance figures by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in those countries.
Multilaterals´ efforts on remittances Funded by the Japan Special Fund (JSF), these data comes from the Bank's second major study on remittances –the first being the 2004 study titled Enhancing the Efficiency of Overseas Workers' Remittances. ADB spent US$650,000 for the Philippine and Southeast Asian remittances studies.
Apart from culling estimates of remittances, the latest study analyzed migration trends in Southeast Asia; how both senders and receivers of remittances use the money; the regulatory framework on remittances; the remittance industry in these countries; and financial intermediation initiatives.
During the conference Remittances and Poverty Reduction: Learning from Regional Experiences and Perspectives that the ADB, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) co-convened on September 12 to 13 in Manila, ADB vice president Liqun Jin said the Bank sees its role "as a focal point for research and development of remittances in Asia".
While the ADB, Jin said, "stepped up its efforts in addressing remittances concerns in the past two years" through "substantial research and policy development initiatives," IDB's MIF has "convened conferences, commissioned studies and surveys, and financed projects on the volume, transaction cost and the potential development impact of remittances," its website wrote. IDB-MIF, from 2001 to August 2005, has financed remittances projects through non-refundable technical cooperation grants and loans to the tune of US$40,030,653, information in www.migrantremittances.org revealed.
Jin said that US$53 billion (or 42 percent) of the world's US$127 billion total of remittances coursed through banks in 2004 come from Asia. India, the Philippines, China and Pakistan are among the top five remittance receiving countries worldwide – the Philippines being number three.
ADB, a multilateral development finance institution with 64 member-countries, annually lends about US$6 billion to members, and provides technical assistance usually totaling about US$180 million a year. Cyberdyaryo 10/08/05
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