The story is eerily familiar - workers being recruited to work abroad, made to attend seminars, asked to pay “processing fees” and finally leaving the Philippines to seek their fortune in a foreign land. However instead of living happily ever after, their passports are taken away from them once they land at their destination and they’re made to slave away, not as nurses, but as toilet cleaners. An episode of The Correspondents(a public service-oriented show produced by ABS-CBN in the Philippines)?

Sadly, this story was shown on Seven’s Today Tonight here in Australia. The illegal recruiter featured was a certain Angelica from Angeles City, recruiting nurses to be sent here in Australia. The workers were promised a salary of at least $60,000 annually, free accommodation and transport. In exchange, they are made to pay $20 for an application form, attend a $60 seminar at Holiday Inn and made to pay a processing fee ranging from $11,000 to almost $30,000. When they got here, these nurses were made to work as toilet cleaners in nursing homes for up to 19 hours a day without pay, virtually trapped because their passports were confiscated by the recruiter. They were supposed to be paid $7.29 per hour but was just given $50 weekly as an allowance for food. To get an idea of how inadequate this amount is, click here.

As for the promised free accommodation, they were made to sleep 3-4 to a room with thin foam mattresses laid out on every available space on the floor. To add insult to injury, they were even made to pay $200 for this horrible accommodation.

The segment finished with the reporter saying that the illegal recruiter’s ability to sponsor visas has now been closed down. (But who’s to say that it won’t be reincarnated by a close friend or relative?) The report mentioned that she found loopholes in the immigration laws and abused them. As for the hapless nurses, they were able to find real nursing jobs after they applied in job placement agencies here - at least one bright spot in this cautionary tale.

It’s sad that Filipinos would do this to fellow Filipinos, live off the sweat of other people and act like they are doing these workers a huge favour. Be careful of people like these. If it sounds too good to be true (worse, when they start to ask for money), it might be a wise move to walk away. Consider your options, as applying for a migrant visa directly with the Australian immigration may be your safest and best bet.