That is the primary article in a two-part sequence about alleged exploitation of Filipino home staff.
Hong Kong, China – The scorching of hen adobo – a candy and savoury Filipino dish – fills the air of a high-rise residence in Doha.
It’s Sunday, Andrea’s solely day without work, and he or she is getting ready dinner earlier than one other lengthy work week begins.
After greater than 5 years within the Qatari capital, Andrea* has lengthy been uninterested in her gross sales job and dwelling circumstances within the metropolis, the place she shares a flat with three fellow Filipinos.
So when a good friend moved to Poland for work final 12 months, Andrea seized the prospect to use with a recruitment company that promotes largely manufacturing unit jobs within the European nation.
However after transferring about 2,500 euros (US$2,700) to brokers, she is but to obtain her airplane ticket.
“I am so stressed because of the big amount of money I already paid,” she informed Al Jazeera. “I keep thinking how I can get [it] back.”
Andrea isn’t alone.
Al Jazeera interviewed 10 Filipino staff and noticed written statements from 20 others who declare they had been promised jobs in Poland that by no means materialised, after falling prey to a community of companies and particular person brokers working collectively throughout a number of international locations.
Regardless of having paid hundreds of {dollars} in charges, they worry they gained’t ever attain the European nation.
Andrea mentioned she was informed her software could be accomplished in about six months and value 3,500 euros ($3,820). However the final she heard from her Poland-based company was that she wanted to pay an extra 500 euros ($550) as a result of her work allow had expired whereas she was ready for a visa appointment with the Polish embassy.
“They are asking [for] just money and not processing the applications properly,” Andrea mentioned.
Stronger rights, greater salaries
Filipino staff, each within the Philippines and in fashionable migrant employee locations equivalent to Qatar and Hong Kong, are being drawn to Poland by means of a combination of phrase of mouth and social media accounts selling jobs.
For a lot of, the prospect of dwelling and dealing in Europe looks like a dream come true.
Within the Philippines, tens of millions have struggled with hovering inflation and the lingering results of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas many migrant staff in Gulf international locations and elsewhere in Asia face low salaries, poor circumstances and meagre protections.
“Here in Qatar, even if I work for 50 years, I won’t be able to become a permanent resident,” Andrea mentioned.
Andrea doesn’t imagine she would ever be allowed to deliver her household from the Philippines to Qatar, which in 2018 grew to become the primary Gulf nation to begin granting international residents everlasting residency, irrespective of how onerous she works or how lengthy she stays.
As a substitute, she sees a manufacturing unit job in Poland as a ticket to higher alternatives for her and her household.
Filipino staff in three completely different places – Qatar, the Philippines and Hong Kong – informed Al Jazeera they had been led to imagine they’d discover greater salaries in Poland, though they had been not often knowledgeable would additionally face considerably greater taxes.
Different touted perks embrace the prospect to deliver one’s household to Poland, regardless of that not being an easy course of for low-income staff, and entry to different European international locations.
The variety of Filipino staff in Poland has grown quickly lately.
Poland issued 22,557 work visas to Filipinos in 2022, in comparison with simply 2,057 in 2018, in line with information from the Polish Ministry of Household, Labour and Social Coverage.
Between 2015 and 2022, Filipinos had been among the many high 5 fastest-growing teams to enrol within the nation’s social insurance coverage program.
A spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned that “the need for Filipino workers in Poland is a combination of a number of factors related to the dynamic growth of the Polish economy in recent years as well as demographic challenges”.
In line with migrant staff and labour specialists, unscrupulous brokers are profiting from the nation’s rising attract.
Most staff mentioned they had been requested to make funds in three instalments.
The entire quantities assorted from about $3,500 to $5,000, effectively above the authorized most quantity within the Philippines. Poland prohibits employment companies from charging placement charges outright.
Staff additionally reported hidden prices, a scarcity of normal updates, and generally even verbal intimidation from brokers.
Victoria* has misplaced all hope of a future in Europe.
After her meals enterprise went bankrupt within the Philippines, she felt she had no choice however to go away her dwelling nation.
Then, final 12 months, Victoria discovered the Fb web page of an company that posted movies and photographs of Filipino staff who had taken jobs in Poland.
“They encouraged me to work there,” she informed Al Jazeera, recalling the primary on-line exchanges with brokers.
Victoria mentioned that Poland’s lack of language restrictions and the prospect of changing into a everlasting resident had been main attracts.
“I want [my son] to be a doctor. That’s why I want to go to Poland,” she mentioned.
Victoria mentioned she despatched about 162,000 Philippine pesos ($2,880) by way of Western Union to recruiters with a Poland-based company.
However then they requested an extra 1,500 euros ($1,635) as an “assurance fee” – a cost supposedly supposed to dissuade staff from abandoning their job in Poland, which is commonly solicited on the understanding it will likely be refunded after six months to a 12 months.
Victoria, a single mom who remortgaged her home and borrowed cash from an acquaintance to cowl her software, couldn’t afford the cost.
She mentioned she was mocked by the recruitment agency after sharing her dire monetary scenario and informed there have been no refunds.
“Every day, I cannot sleep,” Victoria mentioned, calling for staff to be compensated and brokers “to be punished”.
Victoria filed complaints with Filipino authorities in opposition to the Polish company. So far, nobody has been punished and he or she has not acquired a refund or compensation.
To repay her money owed and help her son, Victoria has since taken a job as a home employee in a Gulf nation.
‘Many victims do not come forward’
Al Jazeera noticed Western Union and MoneyGram funds together with a number of financial institution transfers that had been despatched to the person accounts of Poland-based brokers.
A few of these accounts had been based mostly abroad. The employees weren’t supplied with official receipts.
Others mentioned they made funds in money to native companies in Hong Kong, in some circumstances receiving a paper receipt with the identify of an company that doesn’t maintain a licence within the metropolis.
Paras Kalura, operations supervisor at Migrasia, a Hong Kong-based social enterprise that has investigated complaints from migrant staff within the metropolis, informed Al Jazeera that his workforce was conscious of the community, which has grown over time “by adding new recruiters and agents” in numerous places.
However its scope is more likely to be a lot bigger than it seems, Kalura mentioned, as a result of “many victims… do not come forward, hoping for a future deployment to Europe”.
Though extreme recruitment charges have been a problem for Filipino staff going to varied locations for a very long time, Kalura mentioned the quantities charged by this community had been “notably higher” in comparison with different circumstances his workforce encountered.
Beneath Philippine regulation, it’s unlawful to instantly recruit Filipino staff whereas they’re working exterior of their dwelling nation.
An abroad employee’s placement payment also needs to not exceed the equal of 1 month’s wage, which should be laid out in a contract permitted by the Philippine Abroad Employment Administration, and it may solely be collected in any case paperwork has been accomplished.
For home staff and seafarers, charges are prohibited.
The Philippines’ labour attache in Prague, Llewelyn Perez, mentioned the common month-to-month wage of a Filipino manufacturing unit employee in Poland was about 4,200 zlotys ($1,050).
Perez, who’s in command of supporting staff in six European international locations together with Poland, mentioned she acquired an preliminary set of 15 complaints from Filipino staff in Hong Kong in opposition to a Poland-based company named CIS Group Manpower.
Filipino authorities in Hong Kong mentioned that as of November the complaints in opposition to CIS Group Manpower and an area company linked with the company had risen to 24.
“I made some recommendations to the Department of Migrant Workers with respect to the Facebook page that is being maintained” by the company, Perez informed Al Jazeera.
Over greater than six months, Al Jazeera monitored a number of social media accounts recruiting for jobs in Poland, discovering that Fb and TikTok accounts with hundreds of followers could be shut down solely to reemerge quickly after underneath a unique identify.
Perez mentioned that she beneficial that authorities conduct an investigation, which might end in companies being blacklisted by the Philippine Abroad Employment Administration.
CIS Group Manpower and its proprietor Imran Mehmood have been on the Philippines Division of Migrant Staff’ short-term watchlist for employers since Could 2022.
Companies included on the watchlist, which serves as a warning to potential staff, usually are not allowed to recruit Filipino staff until they safe clearance from the Division of Migrant Staff.
Perez mentioned she was conscious of different unaccredited companies recruiting Filipinos to work in Poland, however CIS Group Manpower, as of June, had essentially the most complaints from staff who had paid charges however not reached the nation.
Juliusz Gluski-Schimmer, a spokesman for Poland’s Chief Labour Inspectorate, informed Al Jazeera in November that it had carried out two inspections of CIS Group Manpower.
After “shortcomings” had been recognized, the inspectorate issued an “improvement notice” with “four motions” that aimed “at ensuring compliance with the provisions in the future,” Gluski-Schimmer mentioned.
The suggestions had been targeted on “the legality of employment of foreigners”, together with the duty to supply a written contract and supply a translation “into a language understood by the foreigner.”
‘We follow Polish law’
The proprietor of CIS Group Manpower, Mehmood, denied any wrongdoing by him or his company, which has been licensed within the nation since 2020, and mentioned he had cooperated with the Labour Inspectorate by offering it with all paperwork it requested final 12 months.
“We follow the Polish law,” he informed Al Jazeera.
Mehmood mentioned his company doesn’t cost something to course of staff’ visas or discover them a job, however that nonrefundable “consultancy fees” are charged to help staff with varied procedures.
He mentioned he has efficiently positioned dozens of Filipino staff and that these complaining about protracted functions can search clarification from his company.
He additionally famous that every case is completely different and that the method isn’t absolutely underneath its management as visa functions fall underneath the remit of the Polish authorities.
“We are doing our best to help people and bring them to Poland,” he mentioned.
Mehmood, who accused some staff of mendacity, mentioned his company has been unfairly focused.
“We give contracts and receipts when we receive the money in the company account,” he mentioned, alleging that a few of his former staff took candidates’ cash.
Mehmood mentioned that companies in Poland have confronted issues as a result of Filipino staff typically disappear upon arrival within the nation, as a substitute of taking the roles that they had agreed to.
Two of Mehmood’s former staff, who requested anonymity, denied stealing any cash. They claimed brokers had been instructed to overcharge staff and accumulate charges by way of their private financial institution accounts.
Though Mehmood confirmed that his company has labored along with different companies in locations equivalent to Hong Kong, he didn’t disclose their particular monetary agreements and mentioned he couldn’t take accountability for what they cost to their shoppers.
Gluski-Schimmer, the spokesman for Poland’s Labour Inspectorate, mentioned the recruitment of migrant staff from non-European international locations by Polish employment companies collaborating with international entities typically includes “complicated recruitment processes” that may be “impossible to verify.”
“Such business mechanisms may serve to circumvent the provisions of the applicable law,” Gluski-Schimmer mentioned.
They could additionally exploit “certain loopholes”, which may result in “abuses” in opposition to migrant staff, he mentioned.
Nevertheless, Gluski-Schimmer mentioned that introducing restrictions on Polish companies working with entities based mostly abroad isn’t on the desk, as it might not be potential to verify “whether they are complied with”.
He mentioned migrant staff needs to be “cautious when dealing with companies providing labour intermediation services”.
A spokesman for the police in Poland wouldn’t affirm or deny if the companies or brokers accused of wrongdoing by staff had been underneath investigation.
In the meantime, in Qatar, Andrea’s thoughts runs in circles. She retains desirous about how a lot her software cash might have helped her household again dwelling.
“It’s a big regret,” she mentioned.
Nonetheless, Andrea is holding on to the hope that her software will finally be finalised and she’s going to someday get a job in Poland.
“If there is a chance to live in Europe, I will go and bring my mother there,” she mentioned.
This text was supported with funding from Journalismfund.eu. *Names have been modified to guard people’ privateness.