Foreign Nationals found hidden in a storage compartment trying to leave Singapore illegally

Officers from the Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) have caught three Indian nationals for trying to leave Singapore illegally.

They were found hidden in a storage compartment, located behind the driver’s seat of a 40—foot Malaysia—registered prime mover.

The incident happened last Saturday at about 11.40 am.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the 29—year—old Malaysian driver was promised $500 for each immigration offender he successfully brings out of the country.

Arrangements were made to pick up the three immigration offenders along Woodlands Road.

The three, aged between 27 and 36, said they had come to Singapore to seek illegal employment.

If convicted, for overstaying or illegal entry, they could be jailed up to six months and given at least three strokes of the cane.

Penalties for illegal departure is a fine of up to $2,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both.

Philippine Bureau of Immigration screening procedures led to a big drop in the number of human trafficking victims reaching Singapore

The Philippine embassy in Singapore lauded the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) campaign against human trafficking that prevented the departure of thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the past weeks, many of them bound for the progressive city-state.

In a letter to Immigration Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma, embassy charge d’ affaires Nathaniel Imperial said the BI’s recent screening procedures for departing Filipinos led to a big drop in the number of human trafficking victims reaching Singapore.

Imperial said Singapore, being a Freeport, is a regular destination and transshipment point of Filipinos who are victims of illegal recruiters and prostitution rings preying on young women.

“The Embassy appreciates this effort of the Bureau in countering the trafficking problem in the Philippines, especially since Singapore is a destination country of many trafficking victims,” the official said.

Imperial said that due to the BI’s intensified drive against human trafficking, the embassy now receives frequent queries from Filipinos in Singapore who wish to invite relatives and friends to visit them.

He asked the BI for specific guidelines as to when immigration officers at the airports may require affidavits and other proofs from travelling Filipinos who claim they were invited by relatives and friends abroad.

Lawyer Arvin Santos, BI airport operations division chief, said such affidavits must be authenticated by the Philippine embassy in Singapore, but stressed that such affidavit is not a guarantee that the invitee will be allowed to depart.

He said it is the discretion of the immigration officer to allow or disallow the departure of a passenger depending on the assessment during primary and secondary inspections.
Santos said there were past reports that affidavits were being forged by human trafficking syndicates to facilitate the departure of “tourist workers”, or would-be OFWs disguised as tourists.

Hiring Filipino maids harder as Philippines enforces Republic Act No. 8042

A RECENT tightening of Philippine laws has made it tougher for employers in Singapore to hire Filipinas as domestic workers.

Immigration screening has been stepped up, and those bound for jobs here without the proper papers have been stopped from leaving the country.

The amendments to the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8042) is aimed at improving the ‘protection and welfare’ of Filipino migrant workers, said the Philippine embassy here.

Changes to the law were passed last year, but the rules implementing the law were issued only on July 28, said a Philippine government website.

Manpower agencies in the Philippines said Singapore is not being specifically targeted, but the Philippine authorities want to put a lid on Filipinos leaving for jobs abroad without going through Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) procedures.

The POEA issues a Filipino seeking work overseas an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), explained Mr Rodolfo Sabulao, the labour attaché at the Philippine embassy here.

To get that certificate, the job seeker must have supporting documents, including a standard employment contract verified by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) and authenticated by the Philippine embassy or consulate.

POEA also requires these job seekers to be trained, so as to prepare them for their overseas work stints.

Nine Singapore agents who spoke to The Straits Times said they have stopped bringing in Filipinas as domestic workers as it has become too troublesome.

The Straits Times understands that some agents have been getting around the regulations by working with Philippine travel agents to get the women out of their country as tourists first.

That done, the Singapore agents provide the women with an In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter or Letter of Notification from the Manpower Ministry, so that they can enter Singapore legally.

The domestic workers then sign local contracts provided by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), which is recognised by the Manpower Ministry.

Mr Sabulao said: ‘As far as the Philippine government is concerned, leaving the Philippines as a tourist, when the intention is to work overseas, is illegal, even if they have an IPA.’

Illegal or not, Filipinos are doing it. Seven in 10 Filipino maids here do not have POEA papers. This is an estimate by Ms Thelma Uanang, who runs Philquest, a POEA-registered Manila-based recruitment agency which sends about 65 maids a month here the legitimate way.

About 196,000 foreigners were here as maids as of last December, with Filipinas remaining popular because they speak English. This is why some agents still bring them in, even if the new rules may mean waiting longer for the maid to arrive – up to three weeks, as opposed to a week back when the rules were more lax.

Employers might also have to pay more: The contract verified by POLO secures for maids a salary of $540 and four days off a month, said Mr Sabulao.

But agents say employers here seldom agree to pay a new Filipino domestic worker more than $350 to $370. Some are also reluctant to give maids days off.

Mr Edmund Pooh of the Universal Employment Agency here said: ‘The Philippine government has good intentions, but on the other hand, they’re making it difficult for their people to get a job, as most employers won’t agree to such terms.’

But the Philippine government is sticking to its guns.

Said Mr Sabulao: ‘If workers are deployed and leave as tourists and don’t have proper documentation, nobody is held accountable. If they are injured, who will be liable?’

source: straitstimes.com

Singapore Bound: Avoiding Illegal Recruitment

In order to combat the growing number of illegal recruiters and victims who are illegally recruited in the hopes of finding a good job in Singapore, the Philippine Embassy has step-up its information dissemination.

How to avoid Illegal Recruitment or Recruiters:

Illegal recruitment shall mean any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, or procuring workers and includes referring, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or not, when undertaken by a non-license or non-holder of authority (RA8042).

Some form of illegal recruitment include:

• Leaving the country as a tourist but with the intention of working abroad
• Escort Services – tourist/workers “escorted” at the country’s airports and seaports
• By Correspondence – applicants are encouraged by the recruiter to comply with employment requirements and placements through mail
• Blind Ads – fraudulent and misleading advertisements promising facility of employment
• Au Pair – an inter-cultural program wherein a host family sponsors a person to study language and culture for a monthly allowance in exchange for a home to stay in
• Backdoor Exit – going out of the country through some airports and seaports in the southern part of the Philippines
• Camouflaged participation in foreign seminars and sports events
• Workers leave as participants in seminars or sports events but eventually finding jobs in the host country.
• Traineeship Scheme – Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) students leaving in the guise of a traineeship program for hotels abroad but eventually landing jobs in the training establishment.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has come up with some tips on how to prevent illegal recruitment:

• Do not apply at recruitment agencies not licensed by POEA.
• Do not deal with licensed agencies without job orders.
• Do not deal with any person who is not an authorized representative of a licensed agency.
• Do not transact business outside the registered address of the agency. If recruitment is conducted in the province, check if the agency has a provincial recruitment authority.
• Do not pay more than the allowed placement fee. It should be equivalent to one-month salary, exclusive of documentation and processing costs.
• Do not pay any placement fee unless you have a valid employment contract and an official receipt.
• Do not be enticed by ads or brochures requiring you to reply to a Post Office (P.O.) Box, and to enclose payment for processing of papers.
• Do not deal with training centers and travel agencies, which promise overseas employment.
• Do not accept a tourist visa.
• Do not deal with fixers.

Source: Philippine Embassy Singapore

Beware of Travel Agencies sending Filipino domestic helpers illegally to Singapore

This is from POEA Advisory:

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration advises Filipino women intending to work as domestic helpers in Singapore to use the legal process of overseas employment and not rely on the services of travel agency operators who are moonlighting as employment agents.

Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili, citing a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Singapore, said 99 per cent of Filipino domestic helpers who ran away from their employers were deployed by travel agents and do not have valid overseas employment documents issued by the POEA.

In a report to the POEA, Rodolfo M. Sabulao, the Philippine labor attaché to Singapore said a syndicate composed of travel agencies in the Philippines is behind this illegal recruitment scheme in connivance with placement agencies in Singapore which were not accredited by the Philippine embassy and therefore have no counterpart  recruitment agency in the Philippines.

Also according to the report, at least five Filipino domestic helpers who were able to leave the Philippines as tourists run away from their employers every day because of financial difficulties and seek refuge at the Philippine embassy. Some of them had only worked for 3 days to 5 months before leaving their employers.

The workers were asked to sign a one-page contract indicating their salaries ranging from $250.00 to $350.00 per month with no day off. The workers, however, get only $20.00 per month as subsistence allowance because the Singapore agency has to deduct from their salary the placement fee equivalent to seven months salary.

Manalili clarified that household workers receive a monthly salary of $400. She also said that she has already requested from Labatt Sabulao the names of the travel agencies involved in the illegal recruitment scheme for proper investigation.

Filipinos in distress who need urgent assistance may call the embassy duty officer at telephone no. +65-9072-2797.