THE practice of recruiting Filipinos for work abroad, via a third country, remains prevalent despite efforts by authorities to warn prospective overseas workers of the risks involved, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
Third-country recruitment means legitimate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are recruited to be transported and to work in another country, normally after their visas expire.
Immigration Commission Norman Tansingco said five Filipinos who were victims of third country recruitment were repatriated to Manila from Russia last September 1.
The deportees, composed of four females and one male and all in their 30s and 40s, told immigration authorities upon arrival the difficulties they encountered in Russia.
Tansingco said the male deportee left Manila as a tourist to visit his OFW wife in Russia, but overstayed in the country due to the pandemic while the four others left as OFWs with valid overseas employment certificates.
Three of the female OFWs were recruited to work in Hong Kong and transferred to Russia upon expiry of their contracts.
The other female victim, according to Tansingco, worked as a nanny in Russia and remained there despite the expiry of her contract.
“While third party recruitment is beyond the scope of the mandate of the BI, we deem it necessary to share to the public stories we encounter at the airport, as we are the first to hear about this back in the Philippines. OFWs should protect themselves from exploitation by ensuring proper documentation when they work abroad,” the BI chief added.
He said the danger posed by third party recruitment is that the Philippine government would not have records of them being transferred to work in another country after their working visa in their original destination expired, making them more vulnerable to abuses by their new employer.
Last year, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said recruiters are targeting OFWs working in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the Middle East for third country recruitment as it admitted difficulty in prosecuting cases concerning OFWs abroad who fell victim to third country-hire schemes.
The POEA said third country recruitment is illegal because the recruiter and employer have no license or authority from the government.
