Distressed OFWs in war-torn Syria are being sent by the Philippine
embassy to jail after they tried to escape not only the dangers of war
but also maltreatment from their employers.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Overworked and underpaid, domestic helper Analiza Muaña, 32, escaped from her employer in Syria.
Not only did she clean the house but she also took care of the
children, did the laundry and other household chores. She also cleaned
the house of her employer’s relatives. Her employer did not provide her
three meals a day and was paid a measly $175 salary instead of $400 as
stated in her contract.
On June 5, 2011, she escaped and went to the Philippine embassy
there to seek refuge. The Philippine embassy endorsed her to prison
because her employer reported her to the authorities. She stayed at the
cramped jail for a week before she was released. She went back to the
Philippine embassy but her nightmare did not end there.
Muaña’s experience is not isolated. Other overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) in Syria also received the same treatment she got from the
Philippine embassy. It is as though they were going from one hell to
another.
Inhumane situation
Muaña met several other OFWs at the temporary house called the
Filipino Workers Resource Centers (FWRCs) in the Philippine embassy.
They were denied a decent meal. “They measure everything. We eat one
cup of rice, chicken bones or one slice of eggplant as viand and soup
while they (the embassy official) eat good food,” Muaña said.
Another domestic helper, Arlene Castillo, 37, who also stayed at the
temporary shelter, corroborated Muaña’s testimony. “They prohibited us
from buying groceries even as the food they gave was not enough. We were
also prohibited to go outside of the embassy. In the morning, we would
only eat half of the Arabic bread and tea,” Castillo told Bulatlat.com.
The experience of Ruth Martinez, 37, another domestic helper, is
worse. Martinez got sick while staying at the embassy. She went to the
temporary shelter on Sept. 23, 2011 after escaping from her employer.
After two days, she and six others were brought to the hospital
because of food poisoning. “We were all vomiting, we had diarrhea. I was
very dizzy and my blood pressure also shot up,” Martinez told
Bulatlat.com in an interview. All they ate was the food served at
the embassy.....
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Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/08/in-syria-filipino-workers-who-turned-to-embassy-complain-of-maltreatment/
