POEA bans OFW deployment to most of Iraq over security concerns

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration over the weekend issued a total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to most parts of Iraq, where the Philippine government has raised Crisis Alert Level 3 and has called for voluntary repatriation. In Resolution No. 10, the POEA Governing Board noted the Department of Foreign Affairs raised the crisis alert level in Iraq last Friday, June 13, due to the worsening security situaton there. Because of this, it said it will impose a total deployment ban on the "processing and deployment of all OFWs bound for Iraq except for the Iraqi Kurdistan Region." The resolution was signed by acting Labor Secretary and acting POEA Governing Board chairman Ciriaco Lagunzad III, POEA administrator, Hans Leo Cacdac, and governing board members Felix Oca, Estrelita Hizon, Alexander Asuncion, and Milagros Cristobal. Earlier, the DFA announced it raised the alert level in most parts of Iraq to "Crisis Alert Level 3," citing the "deteriorating security situation" there. The DFA said this means Filipinos there are encouraged to seek "voluntary repatriation." "Filipinos in Iraq are enjoined to volunteer to return to the Philippines at government expense," it said. However, the DFA clarified the Iraqi Kurdistan region which remains under Crisis Alert Level 1 (Precautionary Phase), as Kurdistan "remains relatively calm and stable." Also, the DFA said it is sending a rapid response team to Iraq to "assist in the voluntary repatriation of Filipinos currently in Iraq." Iraqi security forces have been fighting an insurgency in parts of the country in recent days, although Iraqi officials have said the advance on Baghdad by militant forces has been slowed down. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News