Qatar and the remaining outlying GCC countries have been added to a revised list of “safe to work” countries for overseas Filipino workers, media reports state.

Filipinos account for some quarter-million people in Qatar, or about 13 percent of the population, so not being added to the list of compliant countries could have had far-reaching implications for the nation.

Last month, Oman was the only Gulf country to make the list of 155 countries that the Philippines government said adheres to social and labour laws that protect Filipinos’ rights.

But a little more than a week later, the rest of the GCC has been found compliant, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Gulf countries are meeting all the terms and conditions set by the government.

The National reports:

Since December 2006, the Philippine government has required its citizens to be paid at least $400 a month for domestic work. But that is often flouted.”

The Philippines does not have the political will to implement it,” said (Nhel Morona, spokesman for the UAE branch of Migrante, the organisation for Filipino workers overseas). “Domestic workers continue to receive less than $400.”

Last year, the Philippines had said it was considering banning its citizens from domestic labor in Qatar due to concerns over workers’ safety, but ultimately did not add it to its blacklist.

Thoughts on why the POEA suddenly decided to include all GCC countries on its safe list?

Credit: Photo by JMParrone