ABU DHABI // Migrant rights groups have asked Manila to supply legal attachés in the Middle East to ensure that Filipinos appearing in court are represented. "Many Filipinos are in jail here because they did not have proper representation," said Nhel Morona, the secretary general of the UAE branch of Migrante, an organisation set up to protect the welfare of Filipino migrants. He added that Filipinos had called him from court several times to complain that no one from the consulate or the Philippines overseas labour office was at the hearing.
Between 200 and 300 Filipinos are behind bars in Dubai and the northern Emirates, according to Ahmed Bajunaid, the head of the assistance to nationals section at the consulate in Dubai. They included people convicted of theft, as well as drugs and immigration offences. Others have been jailed for bad debts. John Leonard Monterona, the Middle East co-ordinator for Migrante, said about 500 Filipinos were in jail in the Middle East, with at least 16 on death row.
Filipino legal attachés could brief the accused before and after a hearing. "It makes a difference being accompanied by someone with legal knowledge and expertise on Sharia during court proceedings," he said. Ramon Bultron, the managing director of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) in Hong Kong, said such an attaché would ideally be a Filipino Sharia lawyer who would co-ordinate with locally hired lawyers.
The estimated number of Filipino prisoners in Abu Dhabi was not made available by the embassy. However, Noel Servigon, the consul general, thought that instead of legal attachés, it was preferable for diplomatic missions to hire Emirati lawyers who were authorised to represent defendants during police investigations and court hearings. However, Migrante and the APMM, objected that local lawyers were too expensive, but said they should be provided free for those facing the death penalty.
rruiz@thenational.ae