EU envoy: No mass layoff of OFWs seen
Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The global financial crisis is not likely to cause a mass layoff of the estimated 900,000 overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) in Europe, the head of the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) to the Philippines said Tuesday.
“I don’t see any particular reason for out-flux of Filipino workers from Europe. The situation is becoming tighter, but the tightening would have no direct impact on overseas Filipino workers,” Alistair MacDonald told reporters at a press conference.
Recently, the EC tightened its migration policy, initially coming out with rules and procedures on the return of undocumented foreigners to their countries of origin. The new directive, among others, allows the custody for six to 18 months of foreigners who did not pass through regular channels and bans them from returning to Europe for a maximum of five years after their deportation.
MacDonald said OFWs in Europe work mostly in the health sector, and they are unlikely to be affected by the global financial crisis.
Thus, he said, the remittances from OFWs in Europe are also unlikely to drop because of the global financial crisis.
He explained that the current crisis does not concern normal commercial banks, but “building societies, mortgage organizations, and investment banks.” He said the current efforts of world leaders are focused on correcting the control system in the banking and non-banking sectors.
“I don’t see any reason why that should have any particular impact — positive or negative — on the remittances of Filipino workers in Europe,” he said.
At the same time, MacDonald said the EU is trying to develop a policy that would make the sending of remittances “safer, cheaper, and easier.”
“We want to facilitate the ease of sending remittances…We recognize the importance of sending remittances in the development of their countries,” he said.
Government figures show that as of December 2007, there are an estimated 953,519 Filipinos in Europe. More than half (555,542) are temporary residents, a third (284,987) are permanent residents, and a little more than a tenth (112,900) are irregular residents.
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