What it means for Filipino workers

For years, Mila (not her real name) lived a life of quiet hiding in Paris. 

During the day, she slipped in from one neighborhood to another, from one invisible but essential job to another. She cleaned flats, picked up children from school, and cared for elderly people. At some point, she told me she started walking dogs. In the evening, she would go home to her flat on the seventh floor in a building just a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. 

Mila lived in Paris, but could not truly be part of its society. As an undocumented migrant in France, Mila lived in the shadows — not by choice, but out of necessity. 

Overstaying visa, once tolerated

A former public school teacher, Mila arrived in Europe on a tourist visa. A recruitment/travel agency in the Philippines helped her secure a visa from a European country known for its generous tourist visa policies. Once in Europe, Mila was free to move to another country within the Schengen territory. In her case, she moved to France, where she already had family. She then discreetly overstayed her visa.

Without a legal authority to live and work in France, Mila was undocumented, but she was careful and obsessively meticulous. She collected evidence of payments for rent, utilities, and taxes which served as evidence of her life as a law-abiding resident who contributed to the economy. 

It took nearly 10 years, but eventually Mila was able to secure a residence permit. One of her last messages to me included a photo of her and her son, who is now also living in France through the family reunification program.

For years, this kind of informal work-residence arrangement was tolerated in many European countries. In its love-need relationship with labor migrants, countries like France turned a blind eye to overstaying people and undocumented migrants. Amnesty programs and other similar policies offered chances to regularize immigration status and obtain legal residency for people with a steady track record of contributions to social security and tax payments. 

The immigration pathway Mila slipped through is now slowly closing. 

Crackdown on overstaying

Across Europe, countries are tightening their borders and passing laws to curb migration. While the headlines focus on asylum seekers and small boat arrivals, another trend is emerging — one that targets people like Mila who entered legally but overstayed.

Countries like Portugal and Greece, once known for pragmatic if unofficially tolerant immigration practices, are now adopting stricter policies. Portugal recently ended a system that allowed undocumented migrants who entered on a tourist visa to apply for residency after one year if they could show proof of work and social security contributions. In Greece, irregular migrants are no longer allowed to apply for residency even after seven years in the country.

The shift is part of a broader trend in Europe, where right-wing parties are gaining political ground, and immigration — especially through irregular pathways — is increasingly framed as a threat. What Portugal and Greece started, other European countries may likely follow.

Thousands of Filipino labor migrants, many of whom have quietly worked as the backbone of Europe’s care and hospitality industry, are poised to be caught in the middle. Estimates by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) indicate that there are over 36,000 undocumented Filipinos in Europe. The actual numbers are likely to be higher.

A closing window

Europe was not a perfect labor market, but it did offer a less exploitative job alternative to Gulf states and even Asian countries, which are notorious for their flagrant abuse of migrant workers, especially women who are in domestic and caregiving work. 

With these migration pathways now going through a chokehold, where will our workers go? Will they have to resort to working in the Middle East despite its weak labor protections and well-documented abusive conditions?

Mila was lucky. She caught a window of time when Europe regarded undocumented workers as essential contributors to the economy, rather than social laggards or criminals. Europe is still in desperate need of workers. What will remain open are visa routes reserved for those with degrees, credentials, and financial means — Filipinos with access to higher education and opportunity. 

What the Philippines can do

The Philippine government must move beyond merely enjoying remittances from OFWs and implement labor strategies that protect Filipino workers — wherever they choose to work. At home, that starts with immediately increasing wages to a fair, liveable level.

It also means ending contractualization policies that trap workers in an endless cycle of job insecurity, without access to any social protection. If the city government of Pasig can regularize long-serving contractual or job-order employees, surely, the rest of the country take measures to do the same. 

At the international level, the government must negotiate with destination countries, like those in Europe, from a position of leverage. The Philippines is a vast talent pool of young, creative, and hardworking people. Europe, facing demographic decline, is in dire need of workers. Without them, their economies, which have already been on down trend, would grind to a halt.

The Philippine government can not afford to ignore Europe’s narrowing migration corridors. It must act now to secure alternative safe migration pathways for Filipinos–wherever they choose to work. – Rappler.com

Ana P. Santos reports on the intersections of gender, sexuality, and labor migration rights. She also hosts the Rappler video series, Sex and Sensibilities (SAS).