• Home

Filipino maids seek refuge at consulate

DUBAI — More than 60 runaway Filipino maids, who came knocking at the doors of the Philippines Consulate here seeking protection from abusive employers, have been put up in a makeshift shelter in the consulate premises.

Most of them sought protection from employers who beat them up or sexually harassed them, besides seeking unpaid wages.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Vicente M. Cabe, the Philippine Labour Attache in Dubai, confirmed that the maids in distress had indeed been provided shelter at the consulate, and were awaiting further processes regarding their salaries and visa cancellation.

"On and off, we have several Filipinos coming to us seeking shelter. On an average, we have one or two maids coming to us daily and the same number repatriated daily," he said, adding that almost 36,000 of the total 200,000 Filipinos staying in the UAE were maids.

"So, it is only 18 per cent of the total Filipino population that make up the maids," he said.

Cabe said that 90 per cent of the runaways coming to the consulate complained of non-payment of wages while others said they faced verbal abuses or were ill treated besides being sexually harassed.

"Normally the maids are repatriated within 2-3 days, but it all depends on their case," he said, adding that sometimes the employers are not really serious about clearing the payments leading to legal wrangles.

He said the consulate, besides providing them with shelter and food, also arranges tickets and solve visa problems for their repatriation home. In the UAE, the Filipino maids work for local Arabs as well as expat European and Asian families.

Marie, 26, (name changed) is one such maid who has taken shelter at the consulate. "I came through an agency in Manila and worked for almost one year with a local family," she said, adding that during the entire period, she was never paid her complete salary even though she asked for it several times. Marie’s salary was fixed at Dh600 per month.

"Whenever I demanded money, I was told by my employer that he was in a problem and he could not pay me," she said. "I have a family back home who are waiting for money, which never comes through," she said.

"So I ran away from them and sought shelter at the consulate. My employers have promised the consulate officials that they would resolve my case next week. I am waiting for my money," she said.

Speaking about the compatriots staying with her at the consulate, Marie said most women had faced all kinds of abuses including verbal and physical abuse. "Some women had also been raped while others complained of sexual harassment," she claimed.

Julie, 27, said she had also not been paid salary by her employer, an Iraqi family, for the past one-and-half years that she worked for them. "I was promised a monthly salary of Dh735, but I got the money in instalments, and that too only after I ask for it," she said, adding: "I have also suffered physical abuse, while several women staying here with me say they have been sexually harassed as well."

Cabe said that more such cases were being reported because the number of Filipino maids had increased in the country, and many of them were also aware that they can report the abuse at the consulate.