Immigration Laws: April, 2000 - Number #19

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported in January 2000 that 700,000 Filipino migrants were sent overseas between January and October 1999, including 100,000 to work on ships. The POEA had set a target deployment of 822,651 for 1999, meaning that fewer migrants were sent abroad than planned. The POEA held 10 job fairs and distributed information to 424 provincial recruitment authorities to make foreign employment opportunities widely known.

There are about 123,000 Filipinos serving on ships around the world; they account for about 20 percent of the world's seafarers (another source says there are 200,000 Filipino seafarers). The Philippines maritime industry does not believe that Filipino seafarers working on foreign vessels should be defined as migrant workers, as proposed by the Department of Labor and Employment in amendments to the 1995 Migrant Workers Act. International Labor Organization Convention No. 97 of 1949 specifically excludes seamen or seafarers; the maritime industry says that the ILO does not consider seafarers to be migrant workers.

Thousands of Filipinos joined a class-action suit filed in March 2000 against Japanese companies to seek compensation for forced labor during World War II. Most of the Filipinos suing were conscripted into the wartime labor force by the Japanese Army and made to work in mines and plantations operated by Japanese companies.

Indonesia has embarked on a major effort to export more workers. The Indonesian Human Resources director said on a visit to Brunei "We are here to grab the job opportunity as we also compete with Thailand and Philippines as they also supply human resources to other countries." Indonesia is trying to improve the quality, skills and productivity of the Indonesian workers, so that they can compete with foreign workers in local and international labor markets.

"Seafarers against inclusion in migrant worker category," BusinessWorld, March 8, 2000.