woolybanana Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 So many Philippinos and -as work abroad, he is probably right. His comment is not worth the fuss.http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/20/prince-philip-nhs-nurse-filipino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 He is right, Philippine migrants worldwide sent home about US$24Billion last year. Over 10% of their GDP is from remittances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 [quote user="Tom"]He is right, Philippine migrants worldwide sent home about US$24Billion last year. Over 10% of their GDP is from remittances.[/quote]Just like the white man (because I think there is a certain amount of racism in the article) they can do whatever they like with the money they earn and pay Tax, NI etc on. When or if Scotland becomes independent will Scottish nurses be sending money back home to Scotland and will the English be jumping up and down? As Wooly says this is really none event journalism and of no interest to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 The Philippine government does gets criticised at home for the economy depending too much on remittances. And for ignoring the social costs of families being split up. Plus migrants often have to pay high fees to actually transfer their money.Prince Philip obviously recognised it as an important issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Met up with Phillipine's workers in the various places I worked abroad and must say that I admired their courage in working dirty construction or even far from ideal nursing, nannying and cleaning jobs. And yes, it was so hard, particularly for the mothers, to leave their kids behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 But the British used to do this, work abroad, send their money home and at the end of their contract get a lump sum which was enough to buy a modest three bed house for cash. The conditions they worked under were not so great either and in some countries, to ensure you met your contract, they would take your passport off you so you couldn't do a runner. I guess some people conveniently forget about that. The phrase "people in green houses" comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Well, I did it for years under slightly better circumstances and the house was not so modest. Benefit more people in UK got off their backsides and did it too. Apart from reading radio news in Benghazi under the eyes of hundreds of gun toting locals and having SAVAC machine gun our students in Tabriz, it was largely uneventful. Others I knew got out by the skin of their teeth, including one who was picked up off Aden by the QE2, I think it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Sorry, it's not really about Prince Philip, just find it an interesting phenomenon. All this money sloshing about the world, it's now reckoned to be 3x bigger than total aid budget and some debate about it being an alternative to aid. Of course financial companies take a nice cut.http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jan/30/migrants-billions-overshadow-aid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 When we knew we were going to be made redundant in the RAF we went on a course about such things as writing a CV and how to look for a job. We also had a few companies come and talk to us one of which was BAC who talked about working in the Middle East, the conditions to expect, jobs on offer and the rewards which at that time were very high. Some went, some didn't, including myself. In some ways, later on, I wish I had but there you go. Of course much of the money earned at that time went back to the UK or was even paid direct to a UK bank.Perhaps I am being a bit thick here but what people earn is their money and what they do with it is entirely up to them. It is not for others to tell them what they can and cannot do with their money.Immigrants in the UK to my mind are a bit like the chicken and the egg. People complain about them coming over and taking British jobs. Well if there were jobs to take then why didn't the indigenous population take them? If the figures given in various newspapers are to believe there is something like three or even four times the number of immigrants working in the UK as there are unemployed. It seems to me that there is a certain percentage of the unemployed just not willing to work. Then people say "well yes but I wouldn't work for the money they get paid", my view is that things can't be that bad for these immigrants if they can get a roof over their heads, feed themselves and still send vast amounts of money home. In short I have no sympathy for those unemployed who complain about immigrants taking their jobs and working for less, if indeed that is really true as most stories you hear about poor wages for immigrants is hearsay rather than fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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