Philippine Diaspora Governance Talk at LAU’s Department of Social Sciences and Institute of Migration Studies
The Lebanese American University (LAU)’s Department of Social Sciences in collaboration with the Institute of Migration Studies hosted Mr. Froilan T. Malit, Jr., a GCC migration policy researcher at American University of Sharjah. During his presentation, Mr. Froilan highlighted how and why labor-sending countries like the Philippines found it challenging to extend labor protection to their labor diasporas—particularly domestic workers—living and working in Kuwait and Qatar. He pointed out the critical roles of policy misalignment and limited coordination between labor-sending and receiving countries that severely impacted the rights and welfare of migrant labor. On the sending diaspora level, Mr. Malit added that the lack of staff capacity and resources within embassies and consulates in the receiving countries often placed serious constraints on authorities in addressing labor diaspora cases. His overall academic discussion highlighted the need for governments and international organizations to coordinate more closely to better understand the opportunities, constraints and challenges in managing temporary labor migration in the GCC region in the long run.