UAE, Philippines lift ban on recruiting domestic workers

UAE, Philippines lift ban on recruiting domestic workers

The Philippines will resume the deployment of household service workers to the UAE starting March 31, it was announced on Tuesday.

The decision was taken after delegations from the UAE and the Philippines have come to an agreement during a two-day committee meeting held in Manila from Monday to Tuesday.

The UAE delegation was headed by Saif Ahmed Alsuwaidi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Mohre), while the Philippine representation was led by Labour Undersecretary Claro Arellano.

Mohre confirmed in a tweet on Tuesday that domestic workers will be allowed to work in the country through authorised channels.

The deployment of domestic workers to the UAE had been suspended since 2014. Once this is lifted by April, the measure shall be covered by a ‘unified employment contract' (UEC) that provides stringent measures to protect Filipino domestic workers, Arellano said in a Press statement.

Under the unified contract, both the employer and the foreign recruitment agencies, as well as the Philippine recruitment agencies shall be held liable should anything happen to the Filipino workers.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has specified instructions to ensure the safety of domestic workers. These were incorporated in