RP officials to UAE employers: Treat workers well

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reminded Muslim employers there to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities to their workers.

Online news site Khaleej Times reported Thursday that the reminder came from the head of the Filipino section at the Islamic Information Center.

"Islam teaches that anyone who cheats is not one of us," said Yahya Maquiran, who reminded employers in the country of the Islamic teachings on labor during a seminar on Labor Laws and Islamic Teaching attended by Filipino Muslims.

Maquiran stressed these points in the wake of many reports of Filipino workers being cheated by employers of their work time, contract and deprived of their salaries for months.

He recalled that a Filipino maid came to his office for guidance after embracing Islam when her Syrian employers showed her mercy and kindness and taken her after she left her original sponsor.

In his address, he said Islam teaches all employers to pay the workers before their sweat dries up.

"Many employers, however, in Dubai and the Northern Emirates do not pay their workers even when their sweat has dried up," he pointed out.

Citing the case of the Filipino maid who ran away, Maquiran said her original sponsor's wife maltreated her, beat her up and had her eat in the toilet.

"One day, her male employer came back to his residence as he had forgotten something, and released her when he found out about her eating in the toilet. He was too ashamed of what his wife was doing and just released her to find another employer. She found a good Muslim Syrian employer who led her to Islam," he said.

"Her previous lady employer just deprived herself of a great reward. She oppressed her worker but, in this way, she oppressed herself, not the helper, for she did evil," he added.