Dubai OFWs fear job losses, pay cut

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates are worried for their jobs and salaries, following news that Dubai is seeking a six-month moratorium on debt repayment to the tune of $60 billion which has plunged the emirate into financial crisis.

“Many multi- and transnational companies are now implementing measures to lower operational costs and many are implementing salary reduction schemes. OFWs have no option but to agree to lower salaries rather than be sent home with no job at all,” according to the OFW group Migrante-UAE.

But Dubai-based Migrante-UAE secretary general Nhel Morona said there was no news of layoffs yet.

Long holiday

In a statement, Morona said the UAE was on a long holiday break for the Eid ul-Adha Festival and most workers were returning to work only today.

He said the crisis in Dubai actually started last year when multinational companies in the emirate began feeling the effects of the global economic downturn.

“The government of the UAE, particularly Dubai, can no longer hide this fact because international investors are talking and many foreign capitalists have pulled out their investments,” he said.

In Manila, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center called on the government to draw up a contingency plan in light of growing anxiety over the Dubai debt crisis which could jeopardize the employment of around 250,000 Filipinos.

Debt crisis

The center, which advocates for OFWs, said the contingency plan should include viable reintegration and employment alternatives for workers who face immediate termination.

“We are of course hoping the debt crisis will soon be over but given the size of the Filipino community in Dubai, we must be prepared for any eventuality,” said center president Susan Ople in a statement.

Migrante-Middle East, which groups Migrante-UAE and other chapters in the region, said OFWs had to tighten their belts amid the economic uncertainty.

“The Dubai-based OFWs are in a situation where only those emotionally and physically fit are most likely to survive. We fear that foreign employers will use the Dubai crisis to justify lowering the salaries of OFWs despite existing employment contracts,” said Migrante-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Debt-trapped OFWs

Ople, for her part, said the center had received reports that many Filipinos were “deeply mired” in credit card and other debts, which has prevented them from leaving Dubai to look for jobs in other Middle East countries.

“Falling heavily into debt is a crime in Dubai and, unfortunately, a good number of Filipinos are ensnared in their personal debt traps because of the high cost of living in the emirates,” said Ople.

The Philippine embassy should look into reports that several Filipinos have landed in jail due to unpaid loans, she added.

Monterona, citing UAE foreign ministry data, said that as of June 2008, there were some 320,000 Filipinos in the UAE, around half of them in Dubai. He said that including undocumented and illegally-staying workers, there could be about 500,000 Filipinos in the emirates.

Dubai is the one of the seven emirates comprising the UAE. It is the largest city and the economic center of the federation. The other emirates are Abu Dhabi, the capital, and Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Quwain.

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