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MANILA: The Philippines has signed a new labor agreement with Qatar to protect the rights and welfare of Filipino domestic workers, its Department of Migrant Workers said on Friday.

The majority of over 2 million overseas Filipinos live and work in Gulf countries, most of whom are based in �������� and the UAE. Qatar employs around 250,000, who contribute about $900 million in annual remittance inflows to the Philippines.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac was in Doha earlier this week to discuss labor cooperation and the recruitment of Filipino workers with Qatari Minister of Labor Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri.

“An agreement for a unified contract for domestic workers has been reached. This is the first of its kind in Qatar,” Cacdac said on Friday.

Under the agreement, Filipino domestic workers in Qatar will be employed under a unified contract, in which employment terms are jointly recognized by both governments to ensure stronger protection and fair treatment.

“The Qatari and Philippines sides will honor only one contract, and this one lays down the terms and conditions of employment: humane treatment of our OFW household service workers, with annual leave, weekly rest day, daily rest period, fair wages and access to justice or a complaints mechanism if, unfortunately, problems arise for our domestic workers,” Cacdac said.

The new deal also reduces the probationary period for Filipino domestic workers, strictly prohibits any salary deduction and requires employers to shoulder the cost of workers’ return travel from Qatar to the Philippines after two years of service.

The Philippines is committed “to continue constructive dialogue and cooperation” in developing additional agreements, the DMW added.

“These efforts aim to further strengthen bilateral labor relations, safeguard the rights and welfare of workers, and promote a transparent, fair and mutually beneficial partnership,” it said.

The unified contract agreement is a “positive development” in Philippine-Qatar labor relations, especially in addressing long-standing issues of substituted contracts, said Arnold Mamaclay, president of the Philippine Employment Agencies and Associates for Corporate Employees in the Middle East.

“It’s a significant step forward in safeguarding the rights and welfare of our household service workers. This way, at least we can eliminate substitution of contract and exploitation. That’s usually where the problems come from — contract substitution,” he told Arab News.

“This way, there won’t be any confusion if there’s a labor complaint, because it’s the unified contract that will be followed. Right now, there are conflicts in Qatar and Philippine laws, especially when it comes to certain termination clauses and things like that. So it’s really good that we now have a unified contract.”

LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry has arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit in support of wounded service members.
Harry’s representatives confirmed they were in the capital, Kyiv, on Friday, though they declined to discuss the prince’s schedule for security reasons.
This is the second time Harry has visited Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion in 2022. He made a trip to the western city of Lviv in April.
“We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process,” Harry told the Guardian newspaper while on an overnight train to Kyiv.
Harry, a British Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is the founder of the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style event designed to inspire military veterans around the world as they work to overcome battlefield injuries. Ukraine is bidding to host the games in 2029.
The Archewell foundation set up by Harry and his wife Meghan announced this week that it had donated $500,000 to projects supporting injured children from Gaza and Ukraine. The money will be used to help the World Health Organization with medical evacuations and to fund work developing prosthetics for seriously injured young people.
The Guardian said that Harry will visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, spend time with 200 veterans and meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
His visit coincided with a trip to Ukraine by British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who announced a new set of UK sanctions targeting Russia’s oil revenues and military supplies.
Cooper said the visit is a show of solidarity with Ukrainians facing intensified assault from Russia – including 6,500 drones and missiles in July, 10 times the level of a year ago.
Harry’s appearance in Ukraine follows a four-day trip to the UK, where he met his father, King Charles III, for the first time in 19 months. The meeting was seen as a first step in repairing frigid relations between Harry and other members of the royal family, which deteriorated after he and his wife, the former Meghan Markle, gave up royal duties and moved to California in 2020.
Harry and his father last met in February 2024, when the prince flew to London after receiving news that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer. Harry spent about 45 minutes with Charles before the king flew to his Sandringham country estate to recuperate from his treatment.
Prince Harry’s last trip to Ukraine included a visit to the Superhumans Center, an orthopedic clinic in Lviv that treats wounded military personnel and civilians. The center provides prosthetic limbs, reconstructive surgery and psychological help free of charge.
Harry’s visit Friday come as Russia escalates its war against Ukraine.
It is less than a week after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since its all-out invasion began more than three years ago – an attack in which the main Ukrainian government building was hit. It also comes just days after numerous Russian drones entered the airspace of NATO member Poland – the country Harry traveled through to reach Ukraine.