Two-part media investigation reveals claims of deception by recruiters working across multiple countries.
This is the first article in a two-part series about alleged exploitation of Filipino migrant workers.
Hong Kong, China – The sizzling of chicken adobo – a sweet and savoury Filipino dish – fills the air of a high-rise apartment in Doha.
It is Sunday, Andrea’s only day off, and she is preparing dinner before another long work week begins.
After more than five years in the Qatari capital, Andrea* has long been tired of her sales job and living conditions in the city, where she shares a flat with three fellow Filipinos.
So when a friend moved to Poland for work last year, Andrea seized the chance to apply with a recruitment agency that promotes mostly factory jobs in the European country.
But after transferring about 2,500 euros (US$2,700) to agents, she is yet to receive her plane ticket.
“I am so stressed because of the big amount of money I already paid,” she told media. “I keep thinking how I can get [it] back.”
Andrea is not alone.
Andrea said she was told her application would be completed in about six months and cost 3,500 euros ($3,820). But the last she heard from her Poland-based agency was that she needed to pay an additional 500 euros ($550) because her work permit had expired while she was waiting for a visa appointment with the Polish embassy.
“They are asking [for] just money and not processing the applications properly,” Andrea said.
Filipino workers, both in the Philippines and in popular migrant worker destinations such as Qatar and Hong Kong, are being drawn to Poland through a mixture of word of mouth and social media accounts promoting jobs.
For many, the prospect of living and working in Europe seems like a dream come true.
In the Philippines, millions have struggled with soaring inflation and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while many migrant workers in Gulf countries and elsewhere in Asia face low salaries, poor conditions and meagre protections.
Stronger rights, higher salaries
“Here in Qatar, even if I work for 50 years, I won’t be able to become a permanent resident,” Andrea said.
Andrea doesn’t believe she would ever be allowed to bring her family from the Philippines to Qatar, which in 2018 became the first Gulf country to start granting foreign residents permanent residency, no matter how hard she works or how long she stays.
Other touted perks include the chance to bring one’s family to Poland, despite that not being a straightforward process for low-income workers, and access to other European countries.
The number of Filipino workers in Poland has grown rapidly in recent years.
Poland issued 22,557 work visas to Filipinos in 2022, compared to just 2,057 in 2018, according to data from the Polish Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.
Between 2015 and 2022, Filipinos were among the top five fastest-growing groups to enrol in the country’s social insurance program.
A spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the need for Filipino workers in Poland is a combination of a number of factors related to the dynamic growth of the Polish economy in recent years as well as demographic challenges”.
According to migrant workers and labour experts, unscrupulous agents are taking advantage of the country’s growing allure.
Most workers said they were asked to make payments in three instalments.
The total amounts varied from about $3,500 to $5,000, well above the legal maximum amount in the Philippines. Poland prohibits employment agencies from charging placement fees outright.
Workers also reported hidden charges, a lack of regular updates, and sometimes even verbal intimidation from agents.
Victoria* has lost all hope of a future in Europe.
After her food business went bankrupt in the Philippines, she felt she had no option but to leave her home country.
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