OFW Forum Jun Concepcion How much does it cost every year to address and resolve maltreatment of Filipino women, mostly employed as domestic helpers, in the Middle East? More likely than not, this perplexing question will be glossed over by labor officials in favor of the multi-billion US dollars that Filipino workers generate across the Middle East and which they pump into the country's economy by way of remittances to their loved ones back home. In the meantime, deployment of Filipino women to that region continues to be bedeviled by numerous problems. Despite the obvious advantages, it defies logic and reason why labor officials have not seen fit to conduct a critical review of the situation and scale down, if necessary, further deployments of more Filipino women to that region. The heavy burden of these problems is inevitably assumed by  different government agencies, notably the foreign affairs department, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. In certain ways, the vexing situation can be likened to a  tragicomedy – or illogical fusion of tragedy and comedy. More often than not, victims choose to ignore numerous published reports about physical abuses of OFWs across the Middle East as they opt to put their blind trust on unscrupulous recruiters who promise salaries much higher than what ordinary workers can fetch in the Philippines. On the part of OFW-related government agencies, they opt to gloss over the historically high probability of scores of OFWs, especially women, getting abused by employers. Both parties share part of the blame for the continuing maltreatment of OFWs across many countries in the Middle East. Imaginary tragicomedies are laughable and entertaining to watch on TV or on the stage. But in reality, they're not, especially if victims are single mothers from poor families whose major fault is to put their trust in callous recruiters and their faith in the government’s overseas deployment program. The gravity of this problem was clearly illustrated during the Senate probe on  March 27 into the trafficking of 44 Filipinas initially to Dubai where they entered on the basis of 30-day tourist visas. Senator Risa Hontiveros, who led the inquiry, said that while in Dubai, the women were "locked up inside a dark and dirty dormitory and made to sleep on the floor." After the expiration of their tourist visas, the women were forced to go to Damascus in Syria, where they were allegedly sold to employers for as much as US$10,000 each. Dozens of women fled to the Philippine embassy in Damascus “due to harsh working conditions,” according to a foreign affairs department statement, adding it had sent home some victims. Asked during the Senate hearing why and how the Filipino women got through immigration check at Manila's airport, Immigration chief Jaime Morente acknowledged and confirmed that at least 28 immigration officers were under investigation over their alleged involvement in trafficking women to Syria. "I am disappointed and frustrated about the alleged involvement of BI personnel in these nefarious activities.  As already proven in the past, we will not hesitate to make them face the harshest penalties," he said in a statement. As shown in the foregoing, different government agencies, specifically the Senate, foreign affairs department and the bureau of immigration, mobilized and utilized their respective manpower and financial resources to assist the human trafficking victims in Syria. Sadly, this process is repeated again and again  as human traffickers continue to prey on hapless victims. Given this vicious cycle, it is easy to deduce that the government uses significant human and material resources each time  distressed OFWs need to be rescued from abusive employers, given temporary shelter and repatriated home. In light of continuing abuses of Filipino women in the Middle East, including those who ended up in Syria in March, quantifying the net costs and benefits of deploying Filipino women to that region assumes much greater urgency than before, especially amid the government’s limited resources. But which government agency can muster ample guts to take on this herculean task and conduct an empirical and holistic cost-benefit analysis? With barely 12 months left in President Duterte’s administration, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello or anyone of his underlings may neither find the interest nor the incentive to pursue such a critically-important study. Way beyond a Middle East OFW cost-benefit analysis, other vital facets of the government’s overseas workers’ deployment program should also be looked into. For instance, shouldn’t the government move away steadily from deploying low-value domestic helpers in favor of higher-value skilled workers, like caregivers, who can earn better salaries abroad and be accorded better treatment with their enhanced stature by foreign employers? This strategic shift in overseas workers deployment is underpinned by the rising number of people in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan who need caregiver services. A case in point is Japan. Its health ministry has estimated that the country will need about 340,000 caregivers by the year 2025 to care for its aging population. With an average monthly salary of about 70,000 pesos for caregivers in Japan, this opportunity is certainly worth pursuing by labor officials for Filipino women who wish to work abroad. Contact writer at: [email protected]