PodcastTroublesome lives of unregistered women migrants in Turkey
Turkey is one of the destinations which attracts thousands of women from the Phillipines to migrate for babysitting and house work. One of those women is Connie Cruz, who quit babysitting and now runs a small Asian market. She says that women without work permit in Turkey are not treated like human beings.
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Thousands of women from the Philippines migrate to different corners of the world every year to babysit and do house work. One of those women is Connie Cruz, who's lived in Turkey for 20 years.
Cruz was working as a babysitter in her first few years in Turkey, but had to quit after an accident she was in. She runs a small Asian market now. Most of her customers are from the Philippines.
The mini market in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district is also a place for women from the Phillipines to come together and share their problems.
Cruz says that women without a work permit have the most issues.
"They don't give them proper food or treat them like human beings. A lot of things like this happen. They can't make a complaint if their employer fails to pay them. They can't go to the authorities to complain about their employer. Because they're not registered," Cruz says.
On the other hand, she says that a lot of women from the Phillipines are happy with their employer.
"There are a lot of people who treat their nurse from the Philippines like a member of the family," Cruz says.
Cruz, who's spent half her life working abroad to send money to her family, says that if she gets the opportunity financially, would like to return to her home country.