OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs) are now temporarily barred from being deployed to India.
This after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) declared India as a “non-compliant country” as provided under Republic Act 10022 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.
“The deployment of overseas Filipino workers is only allowed in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected,” POEA said in its Advisory No. 77-2022.
“The deployment of Filipino workers to India cannot be allowed as long as India is assessed as a non-compliant state,” it added.
The POEA said the declaration is based on the assessment of the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, India.
Under the law, the government shall allow the deployment of overseas Filipino workers only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected.
Such guarantees may be based on the host country’s existing labor and social laws protecting the rights of workers, including migrant workers; being a signatory to and/or a ratifier of multilateral conventions, declarations, or resolutions relating to the protection of workers, including migrant workers; and having a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino Workers.
In the absence of such guarantees, the law provides that no permit for OFW deployment shall be issued by the POEA.
Records show that there are around 2,000 OFWs currently based in India, most of them skilled workers and professionals, like engineers.
