Philippine Embassy halts au pair contracts for Netherlands over reported abuses
The Philippine Embassy in The Hague is temporarily suspending the approval of au pair contracts for the country’s nationals who want to come work in the Netherlands. The embassy has received “repeated” reports about au pairs working too many hours and receiving insufficient pay. The suspension takes effect on July 1, Nieuwsuur reported.
The Philippine government will first investigate the situation of au pairs in the Netherlands before reopening visa applications, a spokesperson told the program. The Philippine government is taking the same measures in Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Approximately 2,000 au pairs from outside the EU come to the Netherlands per year. The vast majority of them are from the Philippines. They use the au pair scheme established in the framework of “cultural exchange,” with the goal of au pairs and host families learning more about each other’s culture, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). The scheme requires cooperation from the prospective au pairs’ home countries.
Fairwork, an non-profit organization that fights against the exploitation of migrant workers, says it is not surprised by the Philippine government’s move. The current system is vulenrable to exploitation, Franny Parren of Fairwork told Nieuwsuur. “Au pairs are often dependent on the family for childcare and visas. The step to come to us, and usbsequently to the labor inspectorate or the IND, is a big one.”
Despite this high threshold, Fairwork has seen a slight increase in reports from au pairs over the past three years. They complain about long days, too hard work, and intimidation, among other things. “In the most serious cases, there are threats regarding repatriation to the home country, for example.”
The advocacy group Center for Philippine Concerns (CBC) is critical of the current arrangement. “For years, the au pair program has been promoted as a ‘cultural exchange,’ but in practice, many Filipino women are forced to do housework and childcare for pocket money of 300 to 350 euros per month, well below the Dutch minimum wage.”
The group wants the Philippine government to do more than just stop processing visa applications. “By taking this step, Philippine au pairs are effectively denied entry to the Netherlands while little is being done to address the underlying causes of exploitation and abuse.”
In 2021, the Ministry of Justice and Security tightened the au pair scheme. The maximum age for au pairs was lowered from 30 to 25, and au pairs are no longer allowed to be married or have their own children or foster children. The Ministry hoped that these adjustments would limit financial dependency and help prevent abuse. But it proved insufficient.
“In recent years, there have been several dozen reports of abuse of the au pair scheme,” the IND says on its website. Many au pairs reportedly work more than the agreed 30 horus per week and also perform heavier household tasks than the scheme allows. Accoridng to the regulations, au paris are only allowed to do light household work, such as grocery shopping and cooking. But there are reports of au paris doing things like intensive cleaning and garden maintenance.
There are also abuses in the agencies that act as intermediaries between au pairs and host families. In September, the IND revoked the license of Nina Care, the largest au pair agency in the Netherlands, after reports that the agency did not properly screen au pairs and was unreachable for families if something went wrong.
The Ministry of Justice and Security told Nieuwsuur that it has taken note of the Philippine embassy’s decision and that it was “not coordinated with the Ministry in advance.” The Ministry takes signals regarding possible abuses within the au pair scheme seriously and is mapping out what this decision means, along with the parties involved, a spokesperson said.
