THE PHILIPPINES will allow Filipinos to work as domestic helpers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting Mar. 31 after both agreed to boost protection for these workers, according to the Labor department.

The two countries signed a labor agreement giving the migrant workers “greater protection,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Philippines suspended the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers to the UAE in 2014 to protect them from abuse.

Some female domestic workers in the UAE have good and responsible employers, satisfactory working conditions, receive their wages in full and on time, and can send money home to their families, Human Rights Watch said in an October 2014 report.

“But in many cases, employers in the UAE and recruiting agents abuse the women who become migrant domestic workers,” it said.

Workers whom Human Rights Watch interviewed for the report, including some Filipina maids, described a range of abuses that they had experienced.

Dozens of Filipinas recruited to work in the UAE had been trafficked to Syria to work as maids, The Washington Post reported in January. The workers had at times been physically and sexually abused by their employers and denied the salaries they were promised, it said.

Workers who will be sent to the Middle Eastern country would be covered by a unified employment contract that ensures their security, Labor Undersecretary Claro A. Arellano said in the statement.

Under the deal, local recruitment agencies would be liable if a Filipino domestic helper is put in danger.

The workers will also get at least eight hours of continuous sleep every night, take a paid break at least once a week and keep their passports and other documents.

They may also use mobile phones and other communication devices, open bank accounts and cook their own food. The tourist visa of a Filipino domestic worker may also get converted into a working visa. — G.M. Cortez and Norman P. Aquino

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