UAE agency allegedly keeps would-be OFWs under lock and key

Several overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the United Arab Emirates said that they were in dire need of help as their employment agency was keeping them locked-up in a room.

"Inila-lock po 'yung pinto namin, hindi po kami makalabas. Sa isang araw po bibigyan lang kami ng pagkain, isang beses lang," lamented one of the OFWs in a report by Cecille Villarosa on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali Weekend."

The Filipinos had gone to the UAE to look for jobs using tourist visas.

Over 300 OFWs in the UAE were currently under the care of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, according to attache Felicitas Bay. Most of them had also used tourist visas in the hope of landing a job in the Middle East.

Though some had been repatriated, Bay said that the number of undocumented Filipinos in the UAE was still on the rise.

GMA News sought comment from the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding the matter, but the DFA had yet to respond as of posting time. — Dona Magsino/DVM, GMA News