By Joyce del Rosario
Abstract: This essay will look into the historical roots of Philippine migration to Belgium and provide the status and mode of migration including the different types of migrant workers. A historical appreciation of Filipino migration allows the reader to fully appreciate and understand the basis of information requirements, needs and practices of overseas Filipina/o workers (OFWs) in Belgium.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The history of Philippine migration can be traced to four phases dating back to the 1900s, where the First Wave of Filipino migrants crossed the Pacific to the United States to work as plantation workers in the US territories of Guam and Hawaii. The Second Wave arrived in the United States, professionals mostly, doctors, teachers, graduate students.
The Third Wave was an out migration of mostly male skilled and semi-skilled workers to work in the Middle East in light of the oil boom. The Fourth Wave in the 1990s witnessed an exodus of women and undocumented workers deployed in Asia, Middle East and Europe. It is therefore not surprising that since 1992, service and production workers have consistently topped deployment of OFWs abroad; likewise, there has been a steady increase of women migrant workers particularly in the service sector (ECMI n.d.).
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