BY GERARD NAVAL

AN umbrella group of migrant workers’ organizations yesterday said overseas workers who might be forced to return because of the global crisis need jobs, not promises of livelihood capital.

"What the OFWs need is the right, decent opportunity to work here in the country," said Migrante chairwoman Connie Bragas-Regalado.

President Arroyo on Wednesday said an Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund is among contingency measures being readied to cushion the impact of a feared economic recession starting with the United States.

Regalado said returning OFWs would still want to earn money by working for it instead of engaging in micro-entrepreneurial endeavors.

"Everything is palliative, cosmetic reaction," she said.

The livelihood fund will come from the pool of $25 membership fees being paid every two years by each OFW leaving the country.

A delegate and speaker to the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) to be held in Manila from October 28 to 30 accused Arroyo of promoting the export of laborers at the expense of their families and sometimes their lives.

The IAMR is critical of the Global Forum on Migration and Development which the Philippines is hosting from October 27 to 30.

Indonesian Eni Lestari said "Arroyo should be ashamed of herself and her own government. It’s very clear, the Philippine government is a good example. They (receiving countries) just want cheap labor from these poor countries."

Lestari is spokeswoman of the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body, the biggest grassroots alliance of OFWs in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.