These Filipinos paid thousands for a job in Poland. Now they feel cheated
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 Al Jazeera. “I keep thinking how I can get [it] back.”
Andrea is not alone.
Al Jazeera interviewed 10 Filipino workers and saw written statements from 20 others who claim they were promised jobs in Poland that never materialised, after falling prey to a network of agencies and individual agents working together across multiple countries.
Despite having paid thousands of dollars in fees, they fear they won’t ever reach the European country.