Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai (SR)

Dubai, Jul 3: At a press meet organised by Philippine consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, the diplomatic officials warned their citizens to be vigilant in using social media when looking for jobs. The Assistance to the Nationals (ATN) last year repatriated around 2,000 Filipinos who were illegally recruited through social media to work in the UAE. The ATN section handles cases of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in distress.

An ATN official Sheila Mupas said 2,085 cases of distressed OFWs were handled by the Philippine Consulate in Dubai last year and majority of them were domestic workers who ran away from their employers and almost 90 per cent of them were recruited through social media, particularly Facebook. "Based on my interviews with the distressed Filipinos, they met their recruiters only through FB Messenger. They (victims) did not come face-to-face with the recruiters," Mupas told reporters.

Though Philippines still has a deployment ban on sending domestic workers to the UAE. Most of the victims were told to work as domestic help. Mupas said jobseekers who were recruited illegally were more vulnerable to abuse, including maltreatment, non-payment of salary and physical and verbal abuse. She said those who are planning to come to the UAE to work should enter the country on an employment visa and not tourist or visit visa.

"They should also go through the proper recruitment process, like having their contracts verified by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)," she added.