DUBAI: The Philippine migrant workers office on Friday said it shut down an illegal recruitment agency in Manila after discovering it had been listing non-existent jobs in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.
Kharem’s International, an unregistered and unlicensed company, had listed jobs for domestic workers, beauticians and on-call cleaners in the region, Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers Susan V. Ople said in a statement.
However, the agency’s bogus job offerings were only discovered after unwitting victims complained of being charged placement fees and other ‘advance’ payments.
Legitimate overseas job offers, as well as the registered and authorized recruitment agencies that handle them, can be verified with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, or POEA, a government agency responsible for the management of work programs in the country.
Emmanuel S. Geslani, an expert on the Philippine government’s overseas employment program, said the practice of unscrupulous recruitment agencies sending Filipino workers abroad to take up non-existent jobs has been prevalent, and there must be tighter enforcement measures to close these firms.
“Of course it also has to do with the breakdown of the departure process at airports,” Geslani told Arab News, as recruitment agencies work in cahoots with some dishonest Philippine immigration officials so victims could leave the country.
“A worker without a properly processed documentation, such as an OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate), cannot just depart from an airport. Even those leaving for Dubai, for example, on the pretext of being tourists can be closely checked as immigration officers have opportunities to interview them, and even authority to hold their departure,” Geslani said.
Meanwhile, six alleged illegal recruiters were also apprehended earlier after offering non-existent overseas jobs to 235 victims.
One suspect, Vegloure Ragotero, was accosted and apprehended by 109 of her victims after they chanced upon her while they were on their way to file a complaint at the POEA main office.
Charges of large-scale illegal recruitment, a non-bailable offense under Republic Act No. 10022, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, are being prepared against Ragotero and other suspects.