Nearly 300 Filipino migrant workers were left with no source of income after the Philippine government imposed a total ban on deploying workers to Micronesia.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) imposed the ban on September 4 after receiving reports that some Filipino health workers were being abused, overworked and underpaid, The Filipino Times reported.
Filipinos who returned from that Pacific island country to the Philippines for vacation will not be allowed to fly back there because of the labor ban.
Bernard Olalia, administrator of the POEA, said the ban was implemented because if the government of Micronesia could not protect the rights Filipino workers, deploying more people to the country could make matters worse.
The POEA said it was not known whether the ban would be lifted and suggested that those who have been affected by it should apply for jobs in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia or Japan.