AMMAN, Jordan — Forty narrow mattresses line the carpeted floor of the basement at the Philippines Embassy, a damp and dimly lighted room where 20 women have sought refuge from abusive employers.
The room is one of two shelters run by the embassy for Philippines citizens in Jordan — a country that human-rights groups accuse of not doing enough to protect about 500,000 foreigners, including 30,000 Filipinos, who are working as maids and servants or in construction.
Jordan, like other Middle East countries, offers little legal protection for foreign workers, forcing governments like that of the Philippines to operate shelters. Many of the victims are women who accuse their employers of beating them, refusing to pay wages and forcing them to convert to Islam.
“I was ironing when madam snatched a hot iron from my hand and branded my arm,” said Francis, 30, a shelter occupant who fled her Jordanian employer’s home six months ago.
Recently, the government in Manila decided to stand up for its citizens working in Jordan and elsewhere in the Mideast, saying the money sent home isn’t worth the cost of shelters and court cases against workers who flee their employers.
Almost a year ago, the Philippines imposed a ban on sending more workers to Jordan unless the government enacted regulations protecting them.
While abuse of maids from poor countries by employers in richer ones is not limited to the Middle East, Philippine officials say it’s particularly widespread in the region, including in wealthy states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
“We are very strict in enforcing new rules,” said Virginia Calvez, labor attache at the Philippines Consulate in the emirate of Dubai. “If the employer does not want to comply with our regulations, we advise (the worker) not to go.”
Many employers are hiring maids from countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia without minimum-wage laws.
Since new rules were put in place in the Emirates in April 2007, the demand for Filipino maids has dropped by 50 percent, Calvez said.
In Amman, Samia Elyan, a 47-year-old housewife, said she replaced her Filipino maid with a less expensive worker from Indonesia, who gets $100 a month.
“Who cares if the Philippines stopped sending workers to Jordan?” she said.
“We’re dismayed by the alleged abuses,” Labor Ministry Undersecretary Ghazi Shbei kat said. “We’re doing our best to improve the conditions.”
Amnesty International issued a scathing report in November, saying about 10 foreign workers are believed to commit suicide in Jordan each year.
