Some recruiters sending Filipinos to Libya despite ban

The Philippine Embassy in Libya (Photo its Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Some individuals and agencies in the Philippines and in Libya continue to recruit Filipino workers for jobs in the North African country despite a prevailing deployment ban.

On Saturday, Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato told INQUIRER.net said the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli received information “that certain Filipinos here in Libya and… the Philippines have been recruiting and deploying workers to Libya in violation of the deployment ban.”

Cato noted that some Filipinos workers that were recruited despite the ban were not being paid.

This prompted those workers to seek repatriation assistance from the embassy, he said.

“Some of those we recently repatriated were among those who were brought in. These workers were recruited to work for subcontractors in the oil and gas sector,” he said.

In a statement, the embassy said that the suspension in the recruitment, processing, and deployment of Filipinos for jobs in the medical, oil and gas, and other sectors in Libya “remains in effect and has not been lifted.”

According to the embassy, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) “has not issued any approval to any individual or agency in the Philippines and in Libya to recruit and deploy nurses, engineers, and other workers to Libya.”

Only Filipino workers who have work contracts and certificates of exemption from the embassy and who are on vacation in the Philippines are allowed to return to Libya, the embassy said.

“The Embassy is currently working with Libyan authorities to ensure the safety and security of Filipino workers in Libya and address other concerns that have been brought to its attention,” it added.

The embassy then warned that Filipinos who are deploying workers to Libya from the Philippines and from other countries would be liable for violating the Anti-Trafficking Persons Act and the Migrant Workers Act.

The embassy urged the public to report such illegal activities the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli or to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment, the POEA, or other concerned government agencies in the Philippines.

/atm