Bring home 111 stranded Pinoys in Jeddah - group
migrants group in Saudi Arabia called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday to immediately repatriate at least 111 stranded Filipinos in Jeddah, mostly workers who ran away from their abusive employers.
Many of the distressed Filipinos have also fallen victims to fixers who promised them a “backdoor exit" in Jeddah in exchange for money. They were dropped off near the Al-Khandara flyover supposedly to wait to be picked up by immigration agents for deportation.
They were then moved under a bridge, which practically became a tent city. There were other foreign nationals waiting for deportation under the bridge.
Some stranded Filipino women who ran away from their abusive employers are temporarily accommodated at the Women's Center in the consulate.
A.M. Ociones, chairman of the Saudi Arabia chapter of Migrante International, said some of the stranded Filipinos trooped to the Philippine consulate to appeal for help but were told that they have to observe “due process" for their repatriation.
"We believe the government can do more than force the stranded Pinoys to go back to square one by working for 'due process' as what the Philippine consulate here has been asking them to," Ociones said in a press statement.
"We believe it is the height of callousness to ask them to go through the same process that forced them to camp out under the bridge in the first place," Ociones added.
Last year, almost a hundred Filipinos stranded under the bridge were repatriated through the diplomatic intervention of then Concul General Pendosina Lomondot.
"The government has succeeded in mass repatriation just a few months before, so why not now?" Ociones asked. "Now is the time to again prove that the government's concern for the welfare of the OFWs is not all talk."
Migrante International is an alliance of Filipino organizations asserting the rights and welfare of migrants and their families all over the world. - GMANews.TV
Many of the distressed Filipinos have also fallen victims to fixers who promised them a “backdoor exit" in Jeddah in exchange for money. They were dropped off near the Al-Khandara flyover supposedly to wait to be picked up by immigration agents for deportation.
They were then moved under a bridge, which practically became a tent city. There were other foreign nationals waiting for deportation under the bridge.
Some stranded Filipino women who ran away from their abusive employers are temporarily accommodated at the Women's Center in the consulate.
A.M. Ociones, chairman of the Saudi Arabia chapter of Migrante International, said some of the stranded Filipinos trooped to the Philippine consulate to appeal for help but were told that they have to observe “due process" for their repatriation.
"We believe the government can do more than force the stranded Pinoys to go back to square one by working for 'due process' as what the Philippine consulate here has been asking them to," Ociones said in a press statement.
"We believe it is the height of callousness to ask them to go through the same process that forced them to camp out under the bridge in the first place," Ociones added.
Last year, almost a hundred Filipinos stranded under the bridge were repatriated through the diplomatic intervention of then Concul General Pendosina Lomondot.
"The government has succeeded in mass repatriation just a few months before, so why not now?" Ociones asked. "Now is the time to again prove that the government's concern for the welfare of the OFWs is not all talk."
Migrante International is an alliance of Filipino organizations asserting the rights and welfare of migrants and their families all over the world. - GMANews.TV
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