MANILA, June 2, 2011—More than a million Filipino workers staying in Saudi Arabia are feared to lose their jobs due to the six-year cap implemented by the Saudi’s Ministry of Labor, against domestic and other workers. About 1.5 million Filipinos are now staying in Saudi doing domestic and other manual work.
John Leonard Monterona of Migrante-Middle East (ME) says in his e-mail that although the decision of the Ministry of Labor’s no longer a “surprise,†the Philippine government should look deeply into the matter.
“If all of these workers will go home, without a job waiting for them there, in the Philippines, then the unemployment rate in RP would spike,†he said.
Monterona explained that the cap goes hand-in-hand with the so-called “Saudization†of the labor market in Saudi. The Ministry of Labor there had issued a memorandum to all employers, both local and international, to allot 10 percent of their employment slots to Saudi nationals.
“Saudi Arabia would be the first in the Middle East to implement a limit on the stay of foreign workers,†he said. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
