Published by ONE News on April 4, 2022
See published story here: https://www.onenews.ph/articles/stepwise-migration-searching-for-a-better-future-one-step-at-a-time?fbclid=IwAR36g6peoUhkR73TdPraWVOOQt5hC7na4igsXPsE8SpFwbDDaf7PCW_W37Q
Ollie Dela Cruz, 46, describes herself as a brave soul.
Back in 1993, recruitment offers for factory workers in Taiwan were rampant—promising around P20,000 a month for takers. She took a shot at being a migrant worker, armed only with her diploma in midwifery and her desire to find her place in the world.
“That was a big value during that time, especially from us who came from the province. We can already build a poso negro for our house at that price,” she said.
Now, she is residing with her child in Canada, where she graduated with honors from George Brown College as a community worker. She currently works at a children’s center as an assistant teacher.
But the journey towards where she is now entailed a great deal of patience and sacrifice, she stressed. In fact, she only became a permanent Canadian resident in 2017, after years of roadblocks.
“First, we should be independent and brave. This is what I have always told to myself—that there are many Filipinos who go overseas to work,” she added.
Indeed, Filipino migrant workers have to muster up courage when looking for jobs abroad, especially risking being far away from their homes.
But to directly reach one’s “dream country” remains a great challenge for Filipinos seeking greater opportunities. Due to their lack of capital and the strict migration policies of preferred destination countries like Canada, many Filipino migrant workers see the need for a stepping stone—accepting low-paying work in countries where it is easier to enter.
A rough start
Ollie’s initial plan was to go to Taiwan with her friends, applying at a recruitment agency in Malate, Manila, where similar businesses proliferated.
“When they announce our flight schedule, we immediately went to Muntinlupa. We temporarily stayed in a dormitory provided by the agency,” she said. When they got to the airport the next day, however, no representative from the agency arrived.
They later found that the agency office in Malate and the dormitory they stayed in were already closed. Ollie lost P180,000 to the fake recruitment agency.
Recruitment scams remain a problem in the Philippines, fishing large sums of money from applicants who are promised easier processing of requirements. In contrast, some legitimate agencies also expect applicants to comply with an expensive fee and weather their harsh training conditions.
Ollie and her friends went back to Quezon, ashamed and disappointed, but Ollie did not lose her spirit. She borrowed P5,000 from her sister and went to Singapore as a tourist.
Upon her arrival, she contacted a friend who got her to apply at an agency. Two days later, she got a job as a domestic helper.
For 16 years, she worked for a small family of three composed of a multiracial couple and their child. When she started in 1994, she received a monthly salary amounting to only P3,500, which only increased over the years as she got closer to her employers.
Although Ollie became used to the job, Singapore only offers a citizenship pathway to professional migrant workers and not to domestic helpers like her.
“In 2007, I saw an internet ad hiring for a nanny in Canada. I immediately tried my luck as this might be my opportunity of going to Canada,” Ollie said.
After three weeks, she was called for an interview and was immediately qualified. The agency then instructed her to give a placement fee of 800 Singapore dollars, in addition to all the fees for her documents that she also needed to prepare all by herself.
Despite being previously scammed in the Philippines, Ollie believed that this one was legitimate and pushed through with the process, even though all transactions between her and the agency were only through a phone call.
“I believed that was not a fraud because I prepared all the necessary documents all by myself—I went to the Canadian embassy in Singapore and talked with the officers there along with my job offer,” she said.
After she got all the documents needed and passed the medical examination, Ollie successfully booked her way to Canada in 2008, bringing her hope of finding a better opportunity to grow, not just for herself but also for her family.
The process that Ollie went through is called stepwise migration.
Stepwise migration, a shot at a better future
Yale-NUS associate professor and international migration scholar Anju Paul defined stepwise migration as “the process of migrants undertaking legal stops of substantive duration in multiple destination countries as part of a migration journey spanning years, rather than days or weeks.”
“The idea is that you go to a place that is more accessible, that's less expensive...While you’re there, you save up money, build up some experience, new contacts, and from there, you can kind of jump from that springboard destination to your preferred destination,” Paul said.
These labor migrants work for a period of time in different destination countries moving from one to another instead of a single destination country as they attempt to climb their personal destination hierarchy.
Center for Migrant Advocacy Executive Director Ellene Sana said the story of Ollie is not new among Filipino labor migrants who want to look for a greener pasture in other countries but are not given the opportunity on the first try.
However, the challenges faced by labor migrants do not end when they reach their dream countries.
“We often just think about when you get in the dream country, everything will be alright—but no. You are still going to be treated as a migrant, as an immigrant, so that reflects in your pay, in your assignment. You are still treated as second-class citizens,” Migrante International Chairperson Joanna Concepcion said.
Upon her arrival in Canada, Ollie faced interrogation by immigration officers. She was registered as a worker but she did not have an official employer. It turned out that her contact from the recruitment agency was only from a dummy employer.
“I am not afraid at that time because I said to myself, I cannot be deported. I showed them my documents and finally, they believed that it was legitimate,” Ollie said.
After a week, Ollie found a new job—still as a domestic helper in a Jewish family who lives in the countryside. There Ollie faced discrimination and exploitation, working behind her work hours without extra pay.
“It’s very difficult but it’s okay for me because they said Canada is a land of opportunity—but that’s not true. Yes, you are free to dream, but to realize that dream is a grueling path to take,” Ollie said.
Based on Canadian policy, immigrants can apply for citizenship after 24 months of stay in their employer. During that time, Ollie had already stayed with her employer for 18 months, but her road to Canadian citizenship was rather paved with difficulty.
In 2010, Ollie married a Canadian citizen and had a child. His husband told him not to continue the required 24-month stay in her employer for citizenship application. Instead, his husband promised to process her application as she was already married to him.
Ollie waited for her citizenship process, not knowing that her husband did not file her citizenship application to the immigration. She also discovered that his husband was having an affair with other women.
“Of course, I am afraid to be deported because I am undocumented. How will I survive? He used that situation to take advantage of me,” she said.
Every day, Ollie experienced verbal abuse from her husband, which deteriorated her mental wellness. She could not do anything, however, for fear of getting arrested and separated from her child.
“When you have a child, you will do everything. Even if it’s hard, you will endure it,” she added.
One morning in October 2014, Ollie’s husband threw her and her child out of the house. They asked for help from a church program for Filipinos in need and applied for permanent residency based on humanitarian grounds.
She fought bravely for her residency rights in court—asserting her compliance with taxes as a migrant worker with a permit and her child’s Canadian citizenship. Within 9 months, her application was approved.
The paradox in global labor market
Paul argued that the difficulties faced by migrants who went through stepwise migration are shaped by how the global labor market is set up.
“The better the working conditions, living conditions, the pay, and if there's a pathway to citizenship in destinations that offer those kinds of generous policies, they tend to be very expensive to get into,” Paul said.
The policies of migrant-receiving countries are also big factors for migrants in considering their destination, according to Paul.
She mentioned that aside from financial incapacity, language skills, enough work experience and educational qualifications are the leading barriers that prevent migrants from entering their dream countries directly.
As a result, Paul said, migrants choose to go to more accessible and cheaper stepping-stone countries despite having poor working conditions and policies.
Paul suggests that migrant-receiving countries should make generous policies for migrant workers to make them stay longer and improve their living conditions.
“Rather than letting some other countries benefit from that, why not create pathways within the country itself. You don't want to lose these people because these are like your best migrant workers,” Paul said.
Ollie said she would have not gone to Canada if Singapore had better working policies for migrants like her.
“Singapore is closer to home and anytime I can go back to the Philippines. However, Singapore policies do not offer, at least, a permanent residency because I am a domestic helper. I have no chance to improve and grow.,” she said.
Despite the challenges and difficulties she endured, Ollie said Canada paved the way for her to achieve her dreams.
“Canada for me is the ultimate stop and dream come true where my capabilities were recognized and offers lots of opportunities not only to me but also to my family,” she added.
Aside from working as a teacher assistant and branch manager of a fast-food chain in Canada, Ollie is a member and volunteer of the Filipino Association in Canada and Caregiver Action Center.
In her free time, she assists migrant workers in Canada who may be experiencing the same struggles she had and raising awareness on various migrant issues.
“I want to be an advocate for them to know the working policies and their rights as migrant workers,” Ollie said.
