A new scheme to prevent Filipino workers in the UAE being jailed after falling
into debt is set to be launched in a joint effort between the two nations, it
has been reported.
A two-day training course in how to manage money will be
held next year for Filipino expatriates living and working in the emirates, the
National reports on Thursday.
The “Training of Trainers on Financial Literacy and Addressing Family
Issues” initiative is being run by the UAE Government ministry, the
Philippine Embassy and government agencies in Manila, the paper reports.
Some 600,000 Filipinos live in the UAE, accounting for 12 percent of the
population, according to the 2008 estimate of the Commission on Filipinos
Overseas in Manila.
Credit cards are a major source of personal debt among expatriates including
Filipino workers, the UAE branch of Migrante told the paper.
The group, set up to protect the rights of Filipino expatriates, said it
receives between six and seven calls a day from Filipinos in the UAE struggling
with debt.
“The majority of them owe between AED20,000 and AED50,000,” Nhel
Morona, the secretary-general for Migrante-UAE, told the paper. “Many
claimed they were unable to keep up with their credit card payments due to
delayed salaries and salary cuts.”
The financial training scheme will be carried out by the
Filipino organisation Atikha, according to the report.
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