PHL Promotes Fair and Ethical Recruitment at the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)           

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola promotes fair and ethical recruitment at the panel discussion on addressing irregular migration in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) held at the sidelines of the UNESCAP organized Regional Preparatory Meeting on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, held in Bangkok, Thailand on 6-8 November 2107. In picture (L-R): Mr. William Gois, Executive Director, Migrant Forum Asia, Undersecretary Arriola, Dr. Nenette Motus, IOM Regional Director, Mr. Ausamah Alabsi, CEO of Bahrain Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), and Ms. Lara White, IOM Regional Labor Migration Specialist.

22 November 2017 BANGKOK — Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Sarah Lou Y. Arriola, pushed for fair and ethical recruitment as a protection measure for labor migrants at the panel discussion on irregular migration in the Gulf Cooperation Countries at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting (RPM) for the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration (GCM) in Bangkok on November 06 to 08. 

Undersecretary Arriola in her remarks noted that the Philippines exercises utmost care in ensuring that Philippine labor migrants do not fall into the irregular migration flow.  

“We ensure that appropriate and effective interventions are adopted at each phase of the migration cycle in order to ensure that overseas Filipinos traveling for business, leisure, temporary employment, or on a permanent foreign residency are able to do so with the knowledge of their rights and responsibilities under the protection of the Philippines, the host countries, and/or regional and international legal regimes and practices,” Undersecretary Arriola said.

According to Undersecretary Arriola, a key intervention for the Philippines in order to protect labor migrants is the promotion of fair and ethical recruitment practices. These fair and ethical recruitment practices include both the “freeing the workers from the heavy financial burdens of recruitment cost and remittances transfers” and continuing education of private recruitment agencies to build their capacities.

Undersecretary Arriola heads the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs. She co-led the Philippine delegation to the regional preparatory meeting on GCM.

“Definitely, fair and ethical recruitment would be one of the essential principles and doable commitments that the Philippines will push in the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM),” Ambassador Evan P. Garcia added.

Ambassador Garcia is the Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) organized the RPM. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg.