Church workers warn Filipinos against illegally working in Iraq

Published: 2007-08-15

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Church workers in the Philippines have been training people ministering to Filipinos who could be illegally recruited to work in Iraq. Father Edwin Corros, executive director of the Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People, told the Asian church news agency UCA News Aug. 13 that the manuals commission workers distributed at a July session in the San Fernando Archdiocese contained guidelines for identifying agencies involved in illegal recruitment so workers would not fall victim to them. Father Corros told UCA News that dioceses with migrant-worker departments have been given the same materials over the past three years to help them inform migrant workers and their families about the "pains and gains" of migration. However, workers continue to fall prey to illegal recruiters, he said. Only about 10 of the 1,200 registered recruitment agencies in the Philippines are operating legitimately, he said, adding that the rest are exploitative and many are "doing illegal activities."

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