(Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday urged the foreign affairs and labor departments to look into what she said was an “auction” of Filipino maids in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement from detention, De Lima said she has received complaints of that nature from OFWs in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
She said a Filipina, for example, was sold by her Saudi employer to another employer in Dammam for 24,000 riyals.
She escaped, De Lima said.
“We may need to review the agreement which we entered with Saudi Arabia five years ago to check whether Filipino HSWs are properly accorded their right and are not subjected to modern-day auctions, as if they are mere commodities,” De Lima said, apparently referring to the bilateral agreement that aims to protect OFWs between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.
She said private recruitment agencies should also “check on the condition of the Filipino workers they have sent abroad, especially in Saudi Arabia, to ensure that they are safe and do not fall victims to human trafficking or slavery.”
The plight of OFWs abroad was once again thrust into the limelight following the gruesome death of Joanna Demafelis.
Demafelis’ body was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Demafelis’ death and reports of other OFW abuses prompted the Department of Labor and Employment to impose a total ban on the deployment of OFWs to the Middle Eastern country.