The SUN HK : Consulate warns OFWs against illegal recruitment to Poland, Hungary

First page of the PCG advisory

The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong has again warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against moving to a third country, specifically Poland and Hungary, as this violates the Philippines’ labor laws.

In an advisory posted on Facebook yesterday, the Consulate warned OFWs against an “illegal recruitment scheme that offers employment in Central Europe, particularly in Hungary and Poland.”

The people behind the alleged illegal recruitment are said to charge exorbitant fees and withhold the applicant’s passport to compel them to pursue their job applications to the two European countries.

Basahin ang detalye!

The Consulate reminded the public of Philippine regulations that forbid third-country deployment, meaning all overseas recruitment of Filipinos must be done by licensed recruitment agencies, to ensure they will be deployed only to countries where their rights are protected.

Despite such law, however, many OFWs still manage to move to other countries which offer better pay and the opportunity to gain residency, unlike in places like Hong Kong where they are not allowed permanent residency, no matter how long they have worked.

With a surge in demand for care workers in many countries in Europe and other places like Japan because of their ageing population, many OFWs in Asia are setting their sights further afield.

Lately, a number of OFWs in Hong Kong have managed to move to European countries which until recently was off-limits to them because of language, qualification and other constraints, such as the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and even the United Kingdom.

Despite these, warnings abound about the pitfalls of taking this plunge, largely because of the proliferation of unscrupulous agencies that send them on to a strange place without ensuring that their rights and welfare are protected.

PCG warns, 3rd country deployment is illegal

A recent series of articles published by Al Jazeera exposed the myriad of problems faced by Filipinos who went to Poland for work without the benefit of an employment contract duly processed in the Philippines.

In an interview conducted with 22 Filipinas there, nearly all claimed to have suffered exploitation in the form of wage theft, unreasonable salary deductions, unlawful termination and passport confiscation, apart from being forced to sign documents in a language they did not understand.

They reported being paid only a tiny fraction of the salary promised them, even after paying recruitment fees as high as US$5,000 or around HK$40,000.

(see the story here: https://www.sunwebhk.com/2024/04/after-leaving-grind-in-asia-filipino.html).

The Migrant Workers Office in Hong Kong advises those who want to ensure that they are placed legally in a foreign country to check on this website that lists the agencies that have approved job offers in countries abroad: https://dmw.gov.ph/approved-job-orders.

The link below lists all the recruitment agencies licensed to deploy Filipinos for work abroad: https://dmw.gov.ph/licensed-recruitment-agencies