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1:14

read. They

1:19

treated me like an animal. How

1:22

Filipino domestic workers became trapped.

1:25

By Margaret Simons. Does

1:31

she love them? Mary

1:34

lifted her face and smiled. I

1:36

love them like they are my own, she replied. Mary

1:40

has cared for these children since

1:42

they were born. She

1:46

has been at every significant school

1:48

event, sports matches, award days, graduations.

1:50

She takes them to after-school classes,

1:52

to doctor's appointments. She supervises homework

1:54

and play dates. It's

1:57

Mary who helps them. The

2:00

beach evening about what happened that day

2:02

at school. But.

2:05

She worries that the family she works

2:08

for went need has salaam. Her.

2:10

Right to stay in the Uk. Depends on

2:13

keeping her job with her current employer

2:15

is. The. Boy's twelve,

2:17

the girl is eight. Seen.

2:20

They will be able to take themselves to school.

2:23

And. Where will that leave? Mary. If.

2:26

The family decides to let her go. She will

2:29

have to leave the U K or. as

2:31

many of her friends has done

2:33

stay illegally. Becoming. Undocumented.

2:37

Vulnerable to being exploited,

2:39

Prosecuted. And. Deported. Half.

2:43

A world away in the Philippines. She.

2:45

Has three children of her own. Now.

2:48

In their twenties and thirties. She.

2:51

Has missed all of their significant

2:53

events. Her. Daughter used

2:55

to blame her for leaving them. That.

2:59

Was very harsh so I tried to

3:01

just take it lightly. That. Deep

3:03

inside I had guilt feelings in

3:05

me. Mary said. Yes,

3:08

Because of her work in London, she has

3:10

been able to send enough money home. To

3:12

pay for her children's education. They.

3:15

Have completed school. And. Been

3:17

to university. Her

3:20

daughter is a teacher. And. His

3:22

sons work in I T and civil

3:24

engineering. Their. Life

3:26

will be better than mine she said.

3:29

This. Is the achievement of my

3:31

life. Married.

3:35

Tell Us The children. She. Cares for that. They

3:37

should eat the siege she prepares because they

3:39

are lucky to have saved some people are

3:41

still think. They

3:43

generally listen to her, she told me.

3:45

despite their lives of privilege, They.

3:48

Used to ask questions about those that

3:50

the children. They. Do so

3:52

less as they get older. The.

3:56

family mary works for live in one of

3:58

the most prestigious the dry dresses in West

4:00

London, a luxury apartment

4:03

near Kensington High Street. The

4:06

parents are senior corporate executives on

4:08

high salaries. She

4:10

gets the minimum wage, £10.42 an

4:12

hour, for

4:14

eight hours work a day, but

4:16

she usually does twelve. In

4:19

the evening she must wait until the parents

4:21

get home, which is often late. In

4:25

the week after we met, the parents were going

4:27

to the opera, and she would

4:29

be expected to stay until they got home.

4:31

She was

4:34

not sure if they would pay her extra for that.

4:37

She has raised the issue of pay with them.

4:40

They respond by reminding Mary that they

4:43

have covered the legal fees that have

4:45

allowed her to repeatedly extend her visa

4:47

and stay in London for almost

4:50

ten years. They are very good

4:52

talkers, she said. And

4:55

what they say is true. If

4:57

they hadn't hired very good lawyers,

4:59

she would have been sent home

5:01

years ago. They also pay for her

5:03

airfare home once a year. After

5:06

one more renewal of her visa next year,

5:09

Mary will be eligible to apply for the right

5:11

to stay in the UK. I have

5:14

paid my taxes all the time I have

5:16

lived here, she said. She wants

5:18

to stay and eventually to get a

5:20

pension. In

5:23

a typical year, the Home Office issues about

5:26

22,000 visas

5:28

for migrant domestic workers, and

5:31

Filipinos are by far the largest

5:33

national group receiving them, accounting

5:36

for more than 50% of that

5:38

figure. Most

5:40

arrive in the UK with their

5:42

employers, families from the Middle

5:45

East and South East Asia. Worldwide,

5:48

there are an estimated 53 million

5:51

women carrying out paid domestic work,

5:54

many of whom are migrants, according

5:57

to the International Labour Organization,

5:59

or O ILO, a UN

6:02

agency dedicated to setting labour

6:04

standards globally. It

6:10

is the privacy of their workplace

6:13

that makes them particularly vulnerable to

6:15

abuse. Their

6:17

hours are long and unpredictable. Their

6:20

working conditions almost impossible to

6:22

regulate. In

6:24

the UK, migrant care workers in

6:27

private homes are often expected to

6:29

be available at all times with

6:31

no time off and

6:33

often without extra pay. And

6:37

if their employers terminate their contract,

6:39

they have little protection, which

6:42

means they are effectively forced to return

6:44

home or become illegal.

6:57

Although they are so numerous, although

7:00

they provide the support that allows so

7:02

many wealthy families to live as they

7:04

do, Mary considers

7:06

that she and her countrywomen are

7:09

invisible to Londoners. She

7:11

is tiny, shoulder height to

7:14

most of the British people she meets. At

7:18

Kensington High Street Station, early on

7:20

a weekday morning, there is

7:22

a steady stream of Filipino women coming

7:24

through the ticket barriers in the dawn

7:27

light, weaving their way

7:29

against the tide of city-bound office

7:31

workers, fanning out into

7:33

the streets and disappearing into the houses

7:35

of Notting Hill and Kensington. Mary

7:40

and I were sitting in Kensington Library on

7:42

a winter morning, warmed by

7:44

the sunlight from the tall timber windows.

7:47

She was in her work clothes, a

7:50

hoodie and tracksuit pants. It

7:53

was a Monday, so she had a

7:55

particularly busy day ahead. The

7:58

family and the flat have been without me. all

8:00

weekend so there is lots to do, she

8:02

said. That

8:05

morning, Mary had got up at

8:08

6.30am at the flat owned by

8:10

a Filipino housing association that she

8:12

shares with five other domestic workers.

8:15

Usually, there are one or two

8:17

women, domestic servants who

8:19

have been rescued from abusive employers

8:23

sleeping on the sofa. Memory

8:26

is part of an informal network

8:28

of migrant workers of Filipino origin

8:31

who support others like them who

8:33

get into difficulties. Domestic

8:36

workers abroad are not often helped

8:38

by their government, for whom

8:40

the export of workers is an essential

8:42

source of revenue. The

8:45

main kind of help offered by

8:47

the Philippine government is repatriation in

8:49

cases of abuse or other disaster.

8:53

This is most frequently done for workers in

8:55

the Middle East and South East Asia. It

8:59

is the last thing most migrant workers in

9:01

the UK want. The

9:05

Philippine organisations campaigning for the

9:07

rights of migrant workers have

9:09

been met with hostility from their government.

9:13

When Mary makes her annual trip home,

9:16

she is nervous going through Philippine

9:18

passport control, half expecting

9:20

to be arrested. Because

9:23

as well as working more than full time, holding

9:26

down part time jobs as well as her

9:28

main job, she is an

9:30

activist, involved in

9:32

the UK Filipino Domestic Workers

9:35

Association and with

9:37

Migrante International, an organisation

9:39

founded in the Philippines in 1996 to campaign

9:43

for the rights and welfare of

9:46

Filipino workers overseas. Migrante

9:51

has been red tagged by the

9:53

government. Red

9:55

tagging Is the malicious blacklisting

9:57

and harassment of individuals of all ages.

10:00

The. Critical that the

10:02

government. Widely used against

10:04

all kinds of activists in the

10:06

Philippines. It makes

10:08

them vulnerable to violence In a country.

10:10

Where unexplained violent deaths and

10:13

disappearances a common. Marry

10:16

doesn't know it's her activities have

10:18

attracted the attention of the authorities

10:20

in the Philippines that she says

10:22

them. This is one of

10:24

the reasons she did not want me to use

10:26

of we are Mean in this elliptical. The.

10:33

Philippine government has a deliberate

10:35

policy of using it's people

10:37

as an export commodity. Filipinos,

10:41

make up about twenty five percent of

10:43

the world see Sehring staff. They.

10:46

Are nurses, hospitality workers, And

10:48

labor as? That overwhelmingly

10:50

they are women in

10:52

unskilled occupations especially can

10:55

work. It was

10:57

under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos

10:59

and Nineteen Seventy Four. That.

11:01

Be organized. export of labor

11:04

became official government policy. It.

11:07

Was a means of learning foreign exchange,

11:10

But it was also according

11:12

to Alana Concepcion. The

11:15

Manila based chair of me granted. A

11:17

means of exporting the youngest, most

11:19

active part of the population. Bringing

11:22

down unemployment and reducing the

11:25

risk of social unrest. Through

11:28

successive regimes, the aggressive exports

11:31

of labor has continued. To.

11:34

Day. About eleven percent

11:36

of the population. One

11:38

point Eight three million people are

11:40

working overseas at any one time.

11:44

That means that almost every

11:46

family has at least been

11:48

absent member. Many

11:50

like Mary. Leave their

11:53

children behind to be raised by others.

11:57

The remittances they send home. Tesla

11:59

Motors. Thirty One Billion Dollars

12:01

In Twenty Twenty Two. So.

12:04

Many of those who stay in

12:06

the Philippines, a lack of social

12:09

security means destitution is never far

12:11

away. On the

12:13

major highways, people lives in cardboard

12:16

shelters. On the strip between the

12:18

lines of traffic. Burning rubbish

12:20

to cook and keep warm. Every.

12:23

Mcdonalds has a crowd of children waiting

12:25

for less days as. The.

12:28

Philippines is the oldest democracy

12:31

in Southeast Asia. That

12:33

in the slums, the most immediately

12:35

evident benefits. Of the right to vote, Or

12:38

the plastic signs promoting candidates

12:40

in the seemingly endless elections?

12:43

They. Come in handy as racing

12:45

material. The say

12:48

says sin ten green from some the

12:50

new just. Hanging

12:52

above the streets a huge

12:54

posters placed by recruitment agencies

12:56

seeking applicants for jobs in

12:59

the Uk, Canada, the Us,

13:01

and Australia. Be

13:03

the next for a better life. The

13:05

pace to say. Ten.

13:08

Years ago the Philippines was

13:10

being heralded as a success

13:12

story. An Asian tiger. Thanks.

13:15

To the youngest population in East

13:17

Asia and the fact that English

13:19

was a second language. Yet.

13:22

The gap between the small number

13:25

of wealthy families and the ever

13:27

increasing numbers of desperately. Poor

13:29

grew wider. An.

13:31

Estimated eighteen percent of the

13:33

population lives below the poverty

13:35

line. According to Philippine

13:38

government data. International

13:40

authorities regard that as

13:42

an underestimate. In

13:46

the Philippines, a call center job is

13:49

one of the best paid available. Accessible.

13:52

Only today's with good English and

13:54

a college degree. a

13:56

call center worker can earn about one thousand

13:59

two hundred and to 17 pounds a

14:01

day. That is more than nurses who have

14:03

an average base salary of about a thousand

14:07

pesos a day, and about the same as

14:09

school teachers. Mary's own daughter, a

14:11

qualified teacher,

14:18

has just returned from working in Taiwan as a

14:20

nanny. There are qualified doctors working

14:22

as nurses' aides in the West. What

14:29

the Philippines needs, according to

14:31

Migrante, is inward investment, not

14:33

to export its workforce. Forcing workers

14:35

into exploitation overseas,

14:38

its members say, is not a solution to

14:40

the country's problems. The Philippines imports, in the

14:42

words of Conception, everything, even toothpicks.

14:52

We are not a self-reliant economy.

14:55

We are rich in natural resources,

14:57

and yet we might as well

14:59

still be a colony. In

15:02

government propaganda, overseas workers are

15:04

called modern-day heroes. In his

15:07

State of

15:09

the Union address in July, the

15:11

President, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the

15:13

son of the dictator, attributed

15:16

the country's fast-growing economy to

15:19

the steady flow of remittances from

15:21

overseas Filipino workers, known

15:23

as OFWs. He

15:26

acknowledged a health care worker shortage

15:28

caused in part by

15:30

qualified people moving overseas, including

15:33

two positions in the NHS.

15:35

He promised more training

15:37

programs. While

15:40

saying his wish was for overseas

15:42

employment to be a choice rather

15:44

than a necessity, he added,

15:47

it remains a noble calling that

15:49

our OFWs have answered, requiring

15:52

great sacrifice. Even

15:55

those who have suffered terrible abuse

15:58

are celebrated for their fortitude. On

16:01

Philippines National Herese Day

16:04

in 2019, the former

16:06

President Rodrigo Duterte talked

16:09

about Rose Evangelista Retirees,

16:12

who worked for 30 years as a domestic

16:14

in Kuwait, losing contact

16:16

with her family, not paid

16:18

a salary for years, locked

16:20

in her employer's home before escaping

16:23

and finding a humane employer. This,

16:26

Duterte said, was an example

16:28

to other Filipinos of the dedication

16:30

of working for the well-being of

16:32

their families and the advancement of

16:35

the nation. Seldom

16:40

mentioned is the fact that

16:42

the relentless drive to export

16:44

vulnerable, often poorly educated workers,

16:47

has fed the machine of modern

16:49

slavery. Filipinos

16:51

travelling abroad for work are

16:53

prey to organised crime and

16:56

corruption. The

16:59

boundary between a hero of the

17:02

nation overseas Filipino worker and

17:04

a slave can be

17:06

a blurred one. Thanks

17:18

for listening to the Guardian Long Read.

17:20

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back to the Guardian Long Read. It

18:27

seems that every family in the

18:29

Philippines has a story about trafficking

18:31

and enslavement. Maricris,

18:34

who I met in Manila in

18:36

2022, grew up the

18:38

child of street vendors and in

18:40

2018 answered a

18:43

Facebook advertisement for domestic workers

18:45

in Vietnam. She

18:48

had no passport but she

18:50

and the other women recruited were

18:52

instructed to queue at a particular

18:54

booth when they went through border

18:56

control at Manila Airport. They

18:59

were waved through. On

19:02

arrival in Hanoi, she

19:04

was told that there was no domestic job.

19:07

Instead, the women were taken by

19:09

armed guards across the Chinese

19:11

border to a hotel in

19:13

Guangzhou. The

19:16

hotel was filled with Filipino

19:18

and Vietnamese women and

19:21

it was there Maricris discovered she

19:23

was to be a pregnancy surrogate

19:25

for a wealthy Chinese man. The

19:29

women were fed like princesses

19:32

but imprisoned in their rooms except for

19:34

trips, blindfolded and under

19:36

guard to a hospital for health

19:38

checks and insemination. Maricris

19:43

managed to get hold of a mobile

19:45

phone and messaged a friend

19:47

in the Philippines, sending her

19:49

a photo of the bar of soap stamped

19:51

with the hotel's name. That

19:54

friend alerted the embassy and the

19:56

Chinese police raided the hotel. Some

20:00

of the gang members working on the

20:03

hotel premises were arrested, Maricris said. She

20:06

was kept in China for a month, so

20:09

she could be interviewed by Chinese

20:11

police investigators. She

20:14

was then sent home to the Philippines where

20:16

her daughter, Queen Mary Ann, was

20:19

born in July 2019. When

20:23

I spoke to her, Maricris was

20:25

being threatened on Facebook by members of

20:27

the criminal syndicate that trafficked her.

20:30

They want her child. I

20:32

will never give her to them, she said. Given

20:38

the ease with which she passed through

20:40

border control, Maricris

20:42

suspected there was a connection

20:44

between the Philippines authorities and

20:46

the syndicate that trafficked her,

20:49

so she was reluctant to

20:51

ask for help from the police. When

20:55

I met her, Maricris was working as

20:57

a street food vendor earning

20:59

300 pesos, equivalent to

21:02

£4 a day, and

21:05

also receiving support from the Oplay

21:07

Centre, a charity working

21:10

with exploited workers. Maricris

21:13

said she had flashbacks from her

21:15

time in China and was suffering the

21:17

effects of trauma, but

21:19

the only hope she could see for the future

21:22

was to travel overseas once again,

21:24

possibly as a factory worker. She

21:28

said this time she would make

21:30

sure she was using an authorised

21:32

recruitment agency, but she could

21:34

see no other way of protecting herself. She

21:38

said she was prepared to go anywhere.

21:42

The top destinations for Filipino

21:44

workers are Saudi Arabia and

21:46

the United Arab Emirates, followed

21:49

by Kuwait, Hong Kong and Qatar.

21:54

Areas of migrant workers in

21:56

the Gulf states have been

21:58

well-documented by international organisations. The

22:01

ILO in 2012 estimated there

22:03

were 600,000 forced

22:06

labour victims in the Middle East. A

22:09

study by the Committee on Overseas Workers

22:12

Affairs, a standing committee of

22:14

the Philippines House of Representatives, reported

22:17

that same year that 70% of

22:20

workers employed as caregivers or without

22:22

a specific work qualification in the

22:24

Middle East suffered physical

22:27

and psychological harassment. In

22:31

more recent years, there have been cases

22:33

of murder of domestic workers, four

22:36

in Kuwait since 2018,

22:39

and many more of disappearance.

22:44

Calls for reform grew in the lead-up to the

22:46

2022 World Cup in

22:49

Qatar. The Philippines

22:51

halted deployment of its domestic

22:53

workers to Saudi Arabia in

22:55

2021 over questions of ill

22:57

treatment, but later lifted

23:00

the ban. The

23:03

Philippines government maintains offices across the

23:05

world to assist migrant workers who

23:07

run into trouble. But

23:10

according to Concepcion, the

23:12

main remedy provided is help

23:14

with repatriation. Once

23:17

a worker returns home, any

23:19

hope of recouping unpaid wages

23:22

or holding employers to account

23:24

for abuse and exploitation evaporates,

23:27

often leaving the worker in a

23:30

worse situation than before they left.

23:33

In Metropolitan Manila, I

23:35

met the head of the Overseas

23:38

Workers Welfare Administration, Arnal

23:40

Ignacio. He

23:42

was the only representative of the Philippine

23:45

government to agree to an interview. Ignacio

23:50

is best known not as a

23:52

government official, but as a

23:54

television personality. He

23:56

has run popular game shows and judged

23:58

for a special edition. of Philippine

24:01

Idol. He granted

24:03

me an interview on the understanding that

24:05

the encounter would be recorded by his

24:07

personal camera crew and posted

24:09

on social media. It

24:12

helps his profile to show that international

24:14

media are interested in his

24:16

work. He acknowledged

24:19

that most problems for migrant workers

24:21

are in the Middle East but

24:23

claimed things are improving thanks to the

24:25

efforts of President Marcos who was elected

24:28

in 2022. Saudi Arabia

24:31

is reforming its labor laws he

24:33

said and will help

24:36

with blacklisting certain employers. Marcos

24:39

recently visited the Crown Prince

24:41

Mohammed bin Salman and

24:44

got a commitment that the Saudi

24:46

government would cover unpaid wages for

24:48

migrant workers after a

24:50

recruitment agency collapsed leaving 10,000

24:53

people unpaid. So

24:56

that is wonderful wonderful news and

24:58

we would like to thank the Crown

25:00

Prince. In

25:03

all this woe the UK is

25:05

well down the list of troublemakers. Ignacio

25:09

described it as a very nice

25:11

country we have no problems with

25:13

the UK. He said

25:15

he is proud of his country people who

25:17

travel overseas to work. Filipinos

25:20

are known to be very good workers

25:22

because of our nature. We're

25:24

a very jolly population and very

25:26

caring too. But

25:29

is it right for a country

25:32

to treat its people as export

25:34

commodities? That he said was

25:37

a question above his pay grade. The

25:41

ideal situation is that we have more

25:43

jobs here and that is what the

25:45

president is aiming to do but of

25:48

course it won't happen overnight. He

25:51

said the government is doing a splendid

25:53

job in drawing up new

25:55

bilateral agreements. Shortly

26:01

after he was appointed, Ignacio made

26:03

headlines in the Manila media by

26:06

announcing that he was opening a

26:09

cafe called Mi Grant in the

26:11

foyer of the OWWA offices where

26:13

so many desperate former migrant workers

26:15

come to seek help. He

26:19

recalled, I just saw

26:21

them sitting around very uncomfortably and

26:23

can you imagine being so burdened

26:25

with problems and not having a

26:27

decent seat? He

26:30

had also travelled overseas and seen

26:32

migrant workers in shopping malls unable

26:34

to afford to go into a Starbucks. So

26:38

I thought here we will provide free

26:40

coffee to make them feel special. It

26:43

is not the answer to all problems he

26:45

admits, but it shows that we

26:47

care. In

26:51

defence of its policy of exporting the

26:53

labour force, the Philippine

26:56

government claims that working overseas can

26:58

lift a family from poverty into

27:00

the middle class. And

27:03

it does happen. Mary's

27:05

is a story of success, but

27:08

she has paid a high personal price.

27:11

She was born in 1968 in a

27:14

remote part of Antique Province in

27:16

the western Visayas region, the

27:18

third of five children. Her

27:21

parents lived and worked on the land of

27:24

the local mayor. If

27:26

there was work, then there was food.

27:29

If not, then there is

27:31

no rice for us, she told me. From

27:35

the age of six, Mary worked in

27:37

the pig farm and as a cleaner.

27:41

She went to school but never had any time

27:43

to herself. I never

27:45

had a childhood. It

27:47

is hard for children to lose that stage of

27:49

their lives. It leaves

27:51

you incomplete, she said. She

27:55

first went overseas in 1996 at the age of 29. leaving

28:00

two children aged one and two

28:02

behind with her husband, who

28:04

earned a tiny salary as a security

28:07

guard, not enough to

28:09

give their children a decent education.

28:13

Her first job was in Taiwan. She

28:16

cared for three families living in the

28:18

same apartment block. She

28:20

spoke no Mandarin and little

28:22

English. When the

28:24

family members shouted at her, she

28:27

didn't understand what they were saying, so

28:29

she would smile, which infuriated

28:32

them further. Her

28:35

hands broke out in bleeding cracks

28:37

and sores from constant washing. Most

28:41

of her salary went to servicing the debt

28:43

to the employment agency that found her the

28:45

job. The rest, she

28:48

sent to her family to buy food. Her

28:51

only means of keeping in touch with

28:53

her children was by letter. My

28:56

eldest loves to draw, so he was sending

28:59

me pictures of the house he hoped I

29:01

would be able to buy for us. But

29:03

they didn't know me, and

29:05

I didn't know them. She

29:08

worked for three years without

29:10

a holiday. By

29:13

the time she returned to the Philippines in 1999,

29:16

Mary spoke better English and some

29:19

Mandarin. She was not

29:21

supposed to return to Taiwan under that

29:23

country's immigration law, but the

29:26

recruitment agency fixed that. For

29:28

a charge, they got her a fake

29:31

passport, and she returned for

29:33

another shorter period. She

29:36

left the Philippines again in 2003. By

29:41

this time, she had another child who was

29:43

just three years old. In

29:46

Hong Kong, she cared for an elderly

29:48

man while his daughter worked on the

29:50

Chinese mainland. For six years,

29:53

she had just one day off a week

29:56

and no holidays or visits home. She

29:59

was constantly... stressed and had only

30:01

minimal money for food. By

30:04

the time the old man died, Mary

30:06

weighed just 45 kilograms.

30:09

But it was here in Hong Kong that

30:12

she made contact with other Filipino

30:14

workers and ultimately became involved in

30:16

campaigns for better wages. This

30:19

gave her a social life, and

30:22

for the first time there was the

30:24

idea that I had rights. She

30:28

worked as a cleaner for another Hong

30:30

Kong family that quit when

30:32

she discovered they were spying on her

30:34

with a concealed video camera. Then

30:38

she was hired by her current employers,

30:40

who were then working in Southeast

30:42

Asia. She was happy

30:45

with them. After one

30:47

year, they told her they were moving

30:49

to London and invited her to come

30:51

with them. They warned

30:53

her that it would not be easy to renew

30:56

her visa after six months, but

30:58

they were prepared to do what they could to help.

31:02

Mary arrived in London in early

31:04

2014. The problems

31:06

with her visa dragged on for

31:09

four years, including several appeals through

31:11

the courts. She cried

31:13

every night because of the

31:15

stress. If she had to

31:17

leave, it would have meant

31:20

to return to the Philippines without

31:22

savings or security. A

31:24

return to poverty. But

31:30

ultimately, using the

31:33

argument that she was needed because

31:35

of the family's particular circumstances, she

31:38

was granted a visa renewable every two

31:40

and a half years, but

31:42

it depends on her staying with her

31:44

current employer. Her

31:46

dependence on her employers makes it harder

31:49

for her to push for a raise.

31:52

It's another reason she did not want me

31:54

to use her real name. She

31:57

fears her employer's reaction. Every

32:05

couple of weeks, somewhere on the

32:07

streets of London, a

32:09

small group of Filipino women gather. We

32:13

always go together, says Mary, in

32:15

case it gets dangerous. They

32:17

wait outside one of the houses in

32:19

the wealthiest areas of the city, Hyde

32:22

Park, Notting Hill. They

32:25

wait on a nearby street corner or

32:27

row of shops. They

32:30

pace up and down, sometimes

32:32

pretending to talk on their mobile

32:34

phones to avoid attracting attention. They

32:37

gather because one of

32:39

their countrywomen has called for help.

32:43

Sheila Tillan, the founding chairperson

32:45

of the Filipino Domestic Workers

32:48

Association in the UK, says

32:51

the community of domestic workers now

32:53

has rescue down to a fine

32:55

art. Sometimes

32:58

the women find them using Google

33:00

search and Facebook Messenger. Sometimes

33:04

they seek help on group chats

33:06

with fellow Filipino domestic workers who

33:08

put them in touch with the

33:11

Filipino charity Canlangan, which

33:13

advocates for workers in London. Sometimes

33:17

it is the women's relatives back in

33:19

the Philippines who make the first call

33:21

for help, because the

33:23

women working in London often don't

33:26

have SIM cards and can

33:28

only use intermittent WiFi connections where

33:30

they are staying. Usually

33:34

the women have had no choice in coming to

33:36

the UK. They started

33:38

working for the family overseas,

33:41

usually in the Middle East or Asia, and were

33:43

brought to London when the family moved.

33:47

Their passports and visas are

33:49

often retained by their employers.

33:53

A 2019 survey by Voice

33:55

of Domestic Workers, a

33:57

charity working with migrant domestic workers.

34:00

workers in the UK, found that

34:02

69% did

34:04

not have their own room in employers'

34:06

houses. Only half

34:08

had enough food to eat. Three-quarters

34:11

suffered from verbal or physical

34:13

abuse. Seven

34:15

percent had been sexually assaulted.

34:19

Many reported not being allowed to go

34:21

out without the supervision of their employers,

34:24

and some had their passport taken

34:26

from them. Ninesa

34:29

worked for a member of a Middle

34:31

Eastern royal family as a nanny, caring

34:34

for their child from the time he was born.

34:37

He slept in her bed and called

34:39

her mama. When he was

34:41

three, she was brought to England on

34:44

a private jet and stayed in

34:46

a house in Hyde Park while the family were

34:48

on holiday. In

34:50

Oman, she had lived on leftovers, but

34:53

in London the family ate out

34:55

most days and she starved. Often,

34:59

she was left outside the restaurant

35:01

while the family, including the child

35:03

she cared for, were inside. Trapped

35:07

and isolated, she used

35:10

Google and Facebook to search for Filipinos

35:12

in London and contacted

35:14

Kamlungan. A

35:17

rescue was arranged. It

35:19

was evening. The family

35:21

was absorbed, watching television. At

35:25

the agreed time, she gave

35:27

the child an iPad to distract him. She

35:30

walked out with only the

35:32

clothes on her back. A

35:35

small delegation of her country women met her

35:38

and took her to a safe house. Ninesa

35:42

has registered to be recognised as a

35:44

victim of modern slavery, arguing

35:46

that she had no control over coming

35:49

to the UK and that she

35:51

was exploited and abused. She

35:54

is waiting for a decision from the British

35:56

government. Meanwhile She

35:58

misses my little boy. the child

36:00

she raised from Bass. And.

36:03

Wonders if he misses her. Talents.

36:07

Own story is more hopeful. She

36:10

arrived in the Uk in two thousand and

36:12

three at the age. Of thirty five

36:14

recruited true and agency. Her.

36:17

First two employees. including.

36:19

A famous British couple. Over

36:21

what her and treat is how badly she

36:24

says and she less than. A

36:26

present simple as is a total

36:29

blessing. The. Man is the

36:31

managing director of a large group of

36:33

companies. The woman alone.

36:37

They. Live in the Us that maintain.

36:39

Three luxury apartments in London see

36:41

use when day or best friends

36:43

and family visit. Managing.

36:46

Them is seen as dream job.

36:49

With. Her employers moon age she uses

36:51

one as a safe house. The rescued

36:53

women. There. Were six of them

36:55

staying there? When I spoke to tell him. The.

36:58

Sosa and Mary Sat is

37:01

another. Faces. Under

37:04

British law. The. Only way A

37:06

migrant. Domestic worker can enter the

37:09

country is accompanied by their

37:11

employer. A used

37:13

to be that if they left their employer

37:15

that these of would be terminated. But.

37:18

After Twenty sixteen with you sound

37:20

that domestic workers were at risk

37:22

of abuse and slavery. Changes

37:24

were introduced to permit them

37:27

to change employees. Migrant

37:29

workers have the right to take

37:31

claims to an employment tribunals. But.

37:34

The long waiting times the hearings mean

37:36

these is often expire before they get

37:39

to plead that case. The

37:42

So means that the British government

37:44

has said dealing with the women

37:46

who escape abusive employers. Is

37:48

the national with several. Mechanism or

37:50

an hour ram. Set.

37:52

Up to tackle trafficking. Referrals

37:55

can be made by police. Border.

37:58

force agents local government

38:00

and designated charities if they have

38:03

reason to believe a domestic worker

38:05

has been brought to the country

38:07

without her consent or

38:09

is being underpaid or abused.

38:13

If there is still time on her visa she

38:15

can work but only as a domestic. A

38:38

follow-up investigation will look at evidence

38:40

that the woman has been trafficked

38:43

before making a conclusive determination.

38:46

If that decision is positive she

38:49

will be allowed to stay and work as a

38:51

domestic for two years. Judith,

38:56

not her real name, is one

38:58

of the women being supported by her

39:00

countrywomen and sleeping in one

39:02

of their sofas after fleeing her employers.

39:06

She worked as a domestic and farm worker

39:08

from the age of six. She

39:10

went to Qatar to work for a

39:13

family as a domestic servant in 2015

39:15

and they brought her to the UK when

39:18

the children were attending university in London. She

39:21

was repeatedly beaten and verbally abused

39:23

by the family. They

39:26

treated me like an animal, she

39:28

said, and now my

39:30

mind is broken. She

39:33

was not allowed to leave the house, but

39:36

one night after some months she

39:39

packed a few clothes into a black rubbish

39:41

bag and the household garbage in

39:43

another. She walked out

39:45

to the bins, dropped

39:48

the rubbish in them and

39:50

kept walking. That

39:53

was six months ago. Identified

39:56

as a possible victim of trafficking,

39:58

Judith has been given Permission to stay in the hospital

40:00

for a few days. Listen to stay in

40:02

the Uk pending further investigation. That

40:04

because her original these that has expired.

40:07

She's. Not allowed to work. To.

40:10

Help her afford clothes, food, And

40:13

enough nobel same data to keep in touch

40:15

with her family. Marry. Has

40:17

passed on. Have part time cash in

40:20

hand saturday cleaning job to do this.

40:25

So. Those women who don't use the an

40:27

Rn. That. Leave an abusive

40:29

employer. Once that these are

40:31

has expired that only choices. Are

40:33

to return home. To. The same

40:35

conditions that lead them to being enslaved

40:38

in the first place. Or.

40:40

To stay and become a

40:42

legal undocumented workers and even

40:45

more vulnerable to exploitation. Yet.

40:48

According to a Twenty Nineteen report

40:50

by Doctor Jill is shown a

40:52

lecturer in Human Resource Management at

40:54

the University of York. Many

40:57

Filipinos are reluctant to register with

40:59

the an hour and. They

41:02

don't want to see themselves as slaves.

41:04

They would like to see themselves as

41:06

workers and here is that the nation.

41:10

Approached the commons. The. Home

41:12

Office provided a statement saying it

41:14

was committed to protecting my current

41:17

domestic workers from that these and

41:19

exploitation. And. That the an hour

41:21

and was tailored to allow workers

41:24

to rebuild their lives. However,

41:26

We. Will continue efforts to ensure that

41:29

no worthless suffers. Abuse at the

41:31

hands of their employer. Meanwhile.

41:37

The numbers of rescues a growing.

41:40

Tell. And says that between October

41:42

twenty twenty two and June twenty

41:45

twenty three, That with Twenty seven,

41:47

rescues. That in August

41:49

and September this year alone. There.

41:52

Were another seventeen. The.

41:54

domestic workers association and can

41:56

london used to their facebook

41:59

pages to call for volunteer

42:01

hosts to provide more safe houses

42:03

for the rescued victims. Do

42:06

you have a spare room or sofa? Every

42:14

weekend, Sheila Tillan holds an event

42:16

in London where the Filipino workers,

42:18

on their day off, can share

42:20

food and stories. Tillan

42:23

recruits lawyers and activists to give

42:25

them talks about their rights at work

42:28

and the politics of the Philippines. When

42:32

I visited, it was a picnic in

42:34

Regent's Park, attended by about 18

42:36

women. They

42:38

lolled in the shade, shared salads

42:40

and grilled chicken, and

42:43

listened to a passionate speech from

42:45

a Filipino lawyer denouncing the Philippines'

42:47

government labor export policy. Tillan

42:51

says, sometimes they have

42:53

never been told before that they

42:55

have rights. Most

42:58

of these women will return home when

43:00

their visas expire, even

43:02

while overseas they have the right to

43:04

vote in Philippine elections. Perhaps,

43:07

Tillan hopes, they will

43:09

start to use it. Political

43:12

parties in the Philippines are

43:15

largely flags of convenience. Dinesties

43:18

and cults of personality dominate

43:20

politics, but there are

43:22

members of Congress pressing for workers'

43:25

rights. On

43:27

a warm Sunday morning in June,

43:30

Mary was in the All Saints

43:32

Church on Prince of Wales Drive,

43:34

immediately opposite Battersea Park. Outside,

43:37

the residents were easing into the

43:39

morning, buying coffee, taking their

43:41

dogs for walks. Inside,

43:44

Mary and her fellow Filipinos

43:46

thanked the Lord for keeping

43:48

them safe and healthy. Mary

43:51

is a coordinator of this

43:54

congregation, with a particular responsibility

43:56

for the Filipina members. Most

44:00

of these women were raised Catholics,

44:02

the dominant religion in the Philippines.

44:06

But it is this Anglican Church that

44:08

has become the centre of their

44:10

social and religious lives. They

44:13

meet here every Sunday for the Mass,

44:16

always followed by a communally cooked

44:18

lunch. Every

44:20

fourth Sunday there are special

44:22

activities such as cultural dances,

44:25

choir practice, or activities

44:27

focused on health and wellness.

44:31

It happened, says Rev. Anand

44:34

Asir Anand, by accident. One

44:37

day, about four years ago,

44:39

a Filipina came to him and

44:42

asked him to take her confession. He

44:45

told her he couldn't do so, he

44:47

was not a Catholic priest. She

44:50

asked him to pray with her instead. And

44:54

out came her story of hardship and

44:56

abuse. The

44:58

church had no brief for

45:00

Filipino people, but he contacted

45:02

other Anglicans who did, and

45:05

was soon in touch with Mary, Kanlungan,

45:08

and other organisations. And

45:11

the two Sundays I visited, Filipino

45:14

domestic workers made up most

45:16

of the congregation. Once

45:18

a month, Mass is conducted

45:21

by a Filipino priest, himself

45:23

a migrant worker. Before

45:26

the service, Filipinas from the

45:28

congregation cleaned the church and brought

45:30

flowers to the altar, yellow

45:33

and white roses from waitros. On

45:36

this day, of the fifty

45:38

or so gathered in a circle around the

45:40

humble altar, more than

45:42

forty were Filipino. The

45:46

next day, Mary took a

45:48

break from work to meet me in

45:50

the Preta Monge by the ticket barriers

45:52

at Kensington High Street tube station. She

45:56

was exhausted. After

45:58

the previous day's service, followed by lunch,

46:01

she had gone with her employers to

46:03

a ballet performance by their daughter's after-school

46:06

group. Mary was

46:08

not sure if she was invited for

46:10

herself or because she

46:12

has a particular way of plaiting the little

46:14

girl's hair. The

46:17

event ended late. She

46:19

walked home to save the tube-fare and

46:22

spent a few hours talking to the women she

46:24

lives with, including those sleeping

46:26

on her sofa. I

46:30

asked her whether she believes in God,

46:33

and she reflected before answering. She

46:37

prays every day, but

46:39

as for heaven and hell, I

46:42

sort of believe in them. But

46:45

perhaps it is not true. She

46:48

says she imagines the Philippines was

46:50

once a paradise, before

46:53

colonisation when there was no

46:55

wealth or poverty and everyone

46:57

shared everything. She

46:59

said, with a hint of hesitation,

47:02

that she thought she must be a revolutionary.

47:05

She wanted fundamental reform of

47:07

the system. But

47:12

asked if she hoped for a revolution in

47:15

the Philippines or in Kensington High

47:17

Street, she said, there

47:19

will not be a revolution in my lifetime.

47:22

This I accept. Then

47:27

she had to go. It was

47:29

Monday. There was lots to

47:32

do, and she had not

47:34

yet cooked dinner for the family. Jessica

48:00

Beck. The executive

48:02

producer was Danielle Stevens.

48:07

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