An international non-government organization committed to protecting the rights and welfare of migrant workers has issued a statement expressing concerns about a pilot program for introducing Filipino caregivers to South Korea.

Migration Forum in Asia recently issued a statement, saying the plan for a pilot program for Filipino domestic workers has a “discrepancy in terminology” and a “lack of clarity in the scope of work” they can be asked to do.

“The program has been referred to as both a ‘caregiver’ and a ‘domestic worker’ program, leading to confusion and potential misinterpretation of the roles and responsibilities of the Filipino workers,” MFA said.

“The program’s scope of work seems to encompass both domestic work, such as cleaning, cooking and laundry, and caregiving, such as child care, elder care, and support for pregnant women. This lack of clarity could lead to exploitation and underpayment of Filipino workers,” MFA added.

Earlier, the Korean government announced its plans to bring in 100 Filipino household helpers in July and deploy them as early as September to address the growing need for domestic services in Korea. The program aims to assist eligible Korean households with infants or young children, pregnant women, single parents or working couples, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment. The pilot program will be limited to Seoul, and only accept Filipino nationals until the official version is launched.

Seoul and Manila have been at odds for months over the scope of work the new helpers can be asked to do, according to local reports. The Philippine government reportedly wanted domestic workers only to take care of child care, but the Korean government insisted that they also should take care of incidental and light household management activities for cohabiting family members.

After months of negotiation, both governments released a detailed plan in May.

According to the plan, the caregivers are to provide assistance to infants, children and pregnant mothers of the designated families.

The caregivers may assist in other duties including incidental and light household management activities for cohabiting family members, it added.

In light of its concerns, MFA demanded Seoul and Manila to clearly define the scope of caregivers' work.

The Labor Ministry in Korea has said that the government plans to fine-tune the policy after the six-month pilot.