The Philippines said Wednesday it had banned Filipinos from travelling to work in 41 countries and territories that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect them from abuse. The Department of Labour and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers.
Neither have these countries signed agreements with the Philippines "on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers," the resolution said. They also do not have their own laws protecting foreign workers, it added. Included in the list were strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan.
Carlos Cao, head of the government's overseas employment agency, said the 41 countries did not receive too many Filipino workers so a ban would not have a very large effect. "These are the smaller countries with small markets. The negative impact is not going to be very big," he told AFP. The ban will also not affect Filipino workers who are already in those countries so they will not have to come home until their contracts expire, Cao added. There are an estimated nine million Filipino overseas workers, or about 10 percent of the country's population, official statistics show.