But the same report stated that the RP-Iraq labor agreement signed in early 1980s was “hardly implemented because of the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988), Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait (1990-19991), Gulf War (1990), United Nations sanctions (1990-2003), United States invasion of Iraq (2003).”

“Interestingly, even Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials are not aware of the bilateral agreement concluded between the Philippines and Iraq during the Saddam Hussein’s regime,” the report said.

The report added that countries like Lebanon and Syria “are not keen on signing an agreement exclusively focused on labor related issues.”

Unfortunately, these countries did not sign or ratify the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, said the same report.

The OWWA reported that most, if not all, of the host countries insisted that their national laws were enough in protecting the rights of migrants and that there was no need for bilateral agreements. Ominously, the U.S. government tried to pass an anti-immigrant bill if not for the groundswell of protest actions it created.

Bragas-Regalado said, “The fact that many OFWs continue to languish in jail in their host countries, with some in death row, proves that national laws are not enough to protect the rights of migrant workers.”

Korea then and Israel now

Martinez said that the slow response of the government to repatriate the OFWs in Lebanon showed its lack of a crisis management plan.

Martinez was a factory worker in Koyang-Shi, Kyunggi-Do in South Korea from 1991 to 2003, and he was there when the country went to its highest state of alert in 1996 following an announcement by the North that it no longer recognized the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

From 1994 to 1997 violence resulting in casualties erupted along the border every year.

He recalled that he went to the Philippine embassy there and asked about its plan if the war intensified.

“Talagang walang kahandaan,” (They are really not prepared) he said after the ambassador at that time, instead of informing them what the evacuation plan was, allegedly just told them not to worry since the war would not intensify.

As more and more Filipinos asked about the embassy preparations, Martinez said the embassy only issued a Certificate of Identity to OFWs. He, however, said that many were not able to avail of it since many OFWs used another name in their passport to enter Korea that time.

After being aware of his rights and organized by other migrant leaders in 1996, he said, “Dati parang nagmamakaawa ako sa embassy, pero simula nung mamulat ako, nagde-demand na ako. Buhay ko ‘yun eh.” (Before, I would plead at the embassy, but ever since I was organized, I learned to make demands. It’s my life that’s at stake.)

Martinez worried that his plight then is being experienced by his wife Jocelyn.

Jocelyn, 36, works as a caregiver in Kadima, a three-hour trip away from Israel’s capital Tel Aviv. Martinez echoed his wife’s complaint that she has not heard of an evacuation plan for migrant workers like her if strikes against her host country escalates.

Of the 34,000 OFWs, only about 6,000 OFWs have been repatriated from Lebanon. Martinez stressed that this being a Lebanon-Israel crisis, a crisis management plan should have also been in place for about 30,000 OFWs in Israel.

Although his wife’s employer, a Swiss-Israeli, promised to take Jocelyn out of Israel in case of a worse scenario, Martinez designed their own plan.

He instructed his wife to contact OFWs she knows in Israel, keep huge Philippine flags, assign among them street coordinators and spread Migrante’s hotline number (632) 911-4165.

At present, he said three street coordinators have been identified, two in Tel Aviv and one in Kadima. In case of an intensified war, each street coordinator will lead about 10 OFWs in a bunker where a huge Philippine flag will be put up. The leader will inform Migrante’s office of their location and condition which will be echoed to the DFA officials and other concerned agencies for possible rescue.

Martinez worries that “if the government could not repatriate the 30,000 OFWs in Lebanon, has no plan for those in Israel, how could it save the other OFWs in other Middle East countries in case of a region-wide war?” There are about 1.5 million OFWs deployed in the Middle East.

But Lorenzo Jungco, OUMWA special assistant, said that each post “definitely” has its plan for evacuating OFWs in these countries. However, he did not elaborate further about the plan aside from saying that they have “varying plans in varying conditions.”

Jungco said there are currently 85 posts covering 194 countries and territories.

Less jobs

Despite the dangers in these countries, many OFWs decided to work and stay on in strife-ridden or war-torn countries. They say, “Di bale nang mamatay sa ibang bansa basta may pera, kaysa mamatay sa gutom ang pamilya namin sa Pilipinas” (We would rather die in another country rather than allow our families to die of hunger in the Philippines).

For IBON Foundation, an independent think tank, “the fact that many OFWs would prefer to risk their lives in war-torn Lebanon than return home only highlights how the Arroyo administration has failed to create sufficient livelihoods locally to enable them come home permanently and make a decent living.”

From April 2001 to April 2006, IBON said the government has created an average of only 787,000 jobs annually, which is “not even enough to absorb just the average new entrants in the job market of more than 978,000, much less make a dent in the growing number of unemployed Filipinos, currently pegged at over 4.4 million workers.”

Meanwhile, the government has deployed a yearly average of 900,000 OFWs from 2001 to 2005. The share of OFW remittances to the gross national product has grown from nearly 8 percent in 2001 to 10 percent in 2005, said IBON. (see Table 4).

“Until sufficient jobs can be created, overseas workers will have to continue risking physical and psychological abuse, and even death, in order to feed their families and ensure them a decent life,” the think tank said. Bulatlat