OFW deployment ban stays in Nigeria, 4 Middle East countries

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government will keep in force the ban on deploying workers to Nigeria and four Middle East countries, a decision made after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo met with her ambassadors to those countries.

Besides Nigeria, the deployment ban is in effect in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, according to a Malacañang statement issued on Sunday by Assistant Press Secretary Romeo Montenegro.

Earlier, Arroyo met with her ambassadors to assess the situation in the five countries as to the safety of the Filipino workers.

Those countries may need thousands of foreign workers, but Arroyo stressed that the government would not compromise the security of Filipino workers.

Arroyo directed Ambassador Roy Cimatu, special Philippine envoy to the Middle East, to come up with an assessment of the situation in the five countries.

Cimatu's report will be discussed in March 2009 during a review of the situation in those five countries.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will open an embassy in Damascus,
Syria, in February 2009 under Ambassador Wilfredo Cuyugan to better serve the needs of the 15,000 Filipinos working there.

The Palace statement said 80 percent of Filipinos in Syria are undocumented. - GMANews.TV

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