PHL Embassy: No official announcement from Saudi govt yet on amnesty
ANDREI MEDINA, GMA News
The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said it has not yet received official word from the Saudi government about a supposed amnesty program cited in some news reports.
In an article posted on its website on Friday, the embassy said it is seeking confirmation about the amnesty program supposedly announced the the Saudi Ministry of Labor on Monday.
“The Embassy has not received yet any official announcement from Saudi authorities regarding the amnesty. As such, the Embassy has made formal queries with the Saudi Government and is awaiting the latter’s official response,” the embassy said.
It added that the Filipino community will immediately be advised about the matter once an official reply has been received from the Saudi government.
On Monday Saudi Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh announced that “undocumented foreign workers can leave Saudi Arabia on exit-only visas without being penalized” according to a report from Arab News.
Fakieh said this in a Saudization forum aiming to “clean” the country's labor market from excess foreign workers and regulation violators.
Undocumented Filipinos
Meanwhile, undocumented overseas Filipino workers flocked the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah after hearing about the amnesty program announced by Fakieh according to an earlier report from 24-Oras' Mike Enriquez.
In the report, the OFWs registered for the amnesty program to make use of the one way ticket going back home.
This is because most of the OFWs who registered are uncodumented and couldn't go back to the Philippines due to their lack of documents and fear of being penalized for illegally working in Saudi.
It has not been stated what the specific terms of the amnesty are or how the registrants will be sent home.
There are 1,550,572 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia based on data from the 2011 Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. - VVP, GMA News
The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said it has not yet received official word from the Saudi government about a supposed amnesty program cited in some news reports.
In an article posted on its website on Friday, the embassy said it is seeking confirmation about the amnesty program supposedly announced the the Saudi Ministry of Labor on Monday.
“The Embassy has not received yet any official announcement from Saudi authorities regarding the amnesty. As such, the Embassy has made formal queries with the Saudi Government and is awaiting the latter’s official response,” the embassy said.
It added that the Filipino community will immediately be advised about the matter once an official reply has been received from the Saudi government.
On Monday Saudi Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh announced that “undocumented foreign workers can leave Saudi Arabia on exit-only visas without being penalized” according to a report from Arab News.
Fakieh said this in a Saudization forum aiming to “clean” the country's labor market from excess foreign workers and regulation violators.
Undocumented Filipinos
Meanwhile, undocumented overseas Filipino workers flocked the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah after hearing about the amnesty program announced by Fakieh according to an earlier report from 24-Oras' Mike Enriquez.
In the report, the OFWs registered for the amnesty program to make use of the one way ticket going back home.
This is because most of the OFWs who registered are uncodumented and couldn't go back to the Philippines due to their lack of documents and fear of being penalized for illegally working in Saudi.
It has not been stated what the specific terms of the amnesty are or how the registrants will be sent home.
There are 1,550,572 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia based on data from the 2011 Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. - VVP, GMA News
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