The new labor policy signed by the Philippine government and United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to stop human trafficking at different international airports, particularly those involving Filipino women bound for Dubai but end up in Syria and Lebanon.

The new employment contract which was signed on March 2, 2021 by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Usec. Claro Arellano of the Philippines, and Saif Ahmed Alsuwaidi, undersecretary of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

The trafficking of Filipina domestic helpers via Dubai has been going on for the past four decades, with the destination countries of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan having been banned for deployment by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Migration expert Manny Geslani said.

He estimates that over 120,000 Filipina domestic helpers reached those destinations from 2007 to 2020, with the majority of the women arriving in Lebanon after the Lebanon-Isareli war of 2006.

Thousands of Filipina domestic helpers were trafficked to Lebanon from 2007 to 2009 when Lebanon’s economy started picking up. No less than 50,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had been working in that country until the huge bomb blast in 2020 forced a few thousands to be repatriated to the Philippines. 

The new labor accord will now allow local recruitment agencies to deploy HSWs (Household Service Workers) legally in cooperation with the new UAE labor office called Tadbeer, which will handle the entry of all expatriate women domestic helpers into Dubai.