THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN BEIJING REMINDS FILIPINOS TO OBTAIN PROPER
WORK DOCUMENTS TO AVOID EXPLOITATION AND DEPORTATION

 

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing reiterates its warning for Filipinos to obtain the proper work documentation in order to work legally in China and avoid being exploited by unscrupulous placement agencies and employers.

These are actual cases:

FIRST CASE

A Filipina applied for a teaching job in China through the internet. The internet ad promised a teaching job in downtown Beijing with attractive benefits, including above average wages, comfortable living quarters, and return air tickets upon termination of her contract. After passing a job interview conducted by telephone, she was made to sign a contract in Chinese which she could not read. The Embassy later found the “contract” to be disadvantageous to her, as many of the advertised “benefits” promised to her were omitted.

 

When the Filipina arrived in Beijing, she was sent to a school in Heilongjiang Province, in what used to be called Manchuria, which borders Siberia, and where temperatures during winter reach 26 degrees below zero. The school had substandard housing facilities. She was made to work twelve hours a day without overtime pay. And despite her one-year “contract” which she signed without understanding the contents, her employment was terminated after a few months on the basis that the students were not satisfied with her teaching skills as she is not a native English speaker.

 
She decided to go back to the Philippines rather than face an uncertain future in China. She booked a Beijing-Manila flight via Xiamen, but immigration authorities in Xiamen held her and demanded a fine of RMB 5,000 (approximately PHP 35,000) for not being able to show the required residence permit that should go together with a working visa.

 
At this point, she sought the assistance of the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen PCG and the Embassy in Beijing. The Embassy immediately contacted the school that employed her in Heilongjiang. The school officials flatly stated that the school was not obligated to assist her in getting a residence visa. The Embassy then wrote to Heilongjiang Province’s Foreign Affairs Office and Public Security Bureau, requesting them to waive the requirements of personal appearance and payment of fees for acquiring a residence certificate. The Embassy insisted that the school be responsible for securing the required residence visa/ certificate within thirty (30) days from the Filipina’s arrival as required by Chinese law.
The agencies concerned acted favorably on the request of the Embassy, and threatened to revoke the school’s license if it did not act on the Filipina’s case. The school immediately paid the penalty on behalf of the Filipina, who was finally able to leave for Manila.

 

This story has both a sad and happy ending. Sad because the teacher was not able to complete her contract and earn the money she expected. Happy because she did not endure physical abuse and because through the Embassy’s representations with government authorities, her employers, not the Filipina, paid the fines.

 

Most cases, of contract breaches and illegal recruitment involve fly-by-night recruitment agencies who hire Filipino teachers via the internet or over the phone. The Embassy reminds Filipinos to check the background of prospective employers, to demand from employers the requisite working visas prior to departure, and to refrain from signing employment contracts unless holding working visas.

 

SECOND CASE

 
Roger has been staying in Beijing for three years. He used to be a sales agent for a beer manufacturing giant in Luzon but decided to try his luck in China, where three of his sisters are already working, albeit illegally.

 

Roger never found a permanent job in China due to his limited skills, and survived on the meager income of his sisters, who managed to get odd jobs despite holding tourist visas.

During a spot inspection by Chinese authorities on suspected safehouses for illegal workers, Roger had the misfortune of being caught by policemen in an apartment that he and his sisters shared with many undocumented Filipinos. He was detained for two weeks, made to pay the maximum fine of RMB 5,000 (PHP 35,000) for overstaying in China, and required to produce a one-way Beijing-Manila ticket prior to deportation. He is now banned from coming back to China, along with his sisters who met the same fate a few months later. They are now among 63,000 expatriates that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has deported since 1996 for staying illegally in China. In Beijing alone, between April to July this year, police have detained 103 and fined 609 foreigners due to visa problems.

 
China’s crackdown on foreign nationals is in response to the increasing number of undocumented foreigners, including Filipinos, many of whom are lured by illegal recruiters to work in China on false promises of jobs and high income.

 
Aside from the risk of deportation, undocumented foreign nationals have little protection from abuse or maltreatment if they do not have proper documents, i.e., work permits. One out of four labor disputes
involving expatriates could not be dealt with properly by the Chinese courts because the foreigners had no work permits.