Press Release
09 August 2007

For reference:           Dolores Balladares, Chairperson
                                  Tel. No.: 97472986

"No whitewash on investigation of trafficked Filipinos"
Filipinos in HK push for more probe on trafficking of OFWs to Iraq

Shouting for justice and an impartial investigation on the case of Filipino workers allegedly trafficked from Kuwait to work in the construction of the United States Embassy in Iraq, around 20 Filipino workers in Hong Kong today mounted a protest action in front of the US Consulate and the Philippine Consulate.

Led by the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-Migrante -HK), the protesters lambasted both governments for "downplaying the serious breach of the rights of migrant workers" on the said case.

"Philippine Labor Secretary Brion's pronouncement that the supposedly 11 Filipinos cannot be located in both Iraq and the Philippines is a very clear indication that the Philippine government would want to whitewash the case,"   said Dolores Balladares chairperson of the militant organization.

UNIFIL also lambasted the US government for repeatedly stating that only the private contractor named First Kuwaiti should be held responsible for the trafficking issue. This is despite the fact that the Filipinos were made to help construct the US Embassy in the Green Zone, which is a highly restricted area controlled by the American military forces.

The US government was also taken to task for placing Kuwait in Tier 3 of states engaged in trafficking. Balladares added that the American government knows fully well that Asian workers are recruited by Kuwaiti labor recruitment to work in Iraq against their will while almost all end up in conditions of involuntary servitude there.

"The US and Philippine governments are both accomplices and accountable to the plight of the trafficked OFWs. Their connivance to cover up their tracks just further exposes their role in the exploitation of OFWs and forcing them to work at the expense of their safety," Balladares declared.

The group called for both Philippine houses of Congress to conduct an impartial investigation on the case and pushed the Philippine government to lodge a diplomatic protest to the US government.

"Instead of turning a blind eye and diverting responsibility from the main culprit, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must for once take the side of the aggrieved OFWs. She has already betrayed us when she supported the US-led war in Iraq and she's now doing it all over again," she said.

Finally, Balladares said that they will continue to support actions that seek justice for the trafficking victims.

"This violation of the rights of OFWs as migrant workers and as human beings should not go unpunished. We'll be there to ensure this is so," she concluded.