POEA bans deployment of OFWs to Yemen
Citing the security situation there, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Tuesday banned the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Yemen.
The POEA Governing Board chaired by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz approved Resolution 27 imposing the total ban, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
In a statement, the DOLE said this covers the "processing and deployment of all overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Yemen, both returning and newly-hired, effective immediately."
“I encourage every OFWs in Yemen to be very vigilant and to contact the Philippine Embassy in Yemen for their trip back to the Philippines,” Baldoz said.
Signing the resolution were Baldoz; POEA head and board vice-chairman Hans Leo Cacdac; and members Felix Oca, Estrelita Hizon, Alexander Asuncion, and Milagros Isabel Cristobal.
The DOLE cited a letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the POEA Governing Board, where it said the current situation in Sana’a, Yemen, is relatively peaceful after the signing last September 21 of a UN-brokered Peace and Partnership Agreement between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
However, it noted Houthi forces remain in Sana'a and have imposed their control on checkpoints and some government buildings.
"They also continue to enter the homes of previous government ministers who they have targeted and identified as pro-Isla, the country's main Islamist Sunni party and the Houthis' biggest rival," it quoted the DFA as saying.
Total deployment ban
Meanwhile, the DOLE said the total deployment ban is in line with the Department of Foreign Affairs' raising of the crisis alert level for Yemen from 2 (restriction) to 3 (voluntary repatriation phase).
For her part, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the POEA Governing Board "automatically issues a total ban on the processing and deployment of all OFWs under Alert Level 3 and the government encourages OFWs remaining in a certain area to go home to the Philippines.”
On Dec. 10, 2013, the POEA Governing Board reimposed a total ban on the processing and deployment of returning and newly-hired OFWs to Yemen following a bomb attack at the Yemeni defense ministry complex on December 5.
In that attack, seven Filipinos were killed while 11 other OFWs were injured.
Last February 13, the POEA Governing Board allowing the re-deployment of returning OFWs to Yemen, subject to proof of existing employment. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News
But it maintained the processing and deployment ban for newly-hired OFWs.
The POEA said deployment of OFWs to Yemen reached only 646 in 2013, with 571 of them re-hires and 75 new hires.
Meanwhile, Baldoz said the DOLE is ready to undertake voluntary or mandatory repatriation, and provide OFWs returning from Yemen appropriate assistance services and programs.
The POEA Governing Board chaired by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz approved Resolution 27 imposing the total ban, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
In a statement, the DOLE said this covers the "processing and deployment of all overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Yemen, both returning and newly-hired, effective immediately."
“I encourage every OFWs in Yemen to be very vigilant and to contact the Philippine Embassy in Yemen for their trip back to the Philippines,” Baldoz said.
Signing the resolution were Baldoz; POEA head and board vice-chairman Hans Leo Cacdac; and members Felix Oca, Estrelita Hizon, Alexander Asuncion, and Milagros Isabel Cristobal.
The DOLE cited a letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the POEA Governing Board, where it said the current situation in Sana’a, Yemen, is relatively peaceful after the signing last September 21 of a UN-brokered Peace and Partnership Agreement between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
However, it noted Houthi forces remain in Sana'a and have imposed their control on checkpoints and some government buildings.
"They also continue to enter the homes of previous government ministers who they have targeted and identified as pro-Isla, the country's main Islamist Sunni party and the Houthis' biggest rival," it quoted the DFA as saying.
Total deployment ban
Meanwhile, the DOLE said the total deployment ban is in line with the Department of Foreign Affairs' raising of the crisis alert level for Yemen from 2 (restriction) to 3 (voluntary repatriation phase).
For her part, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the POEA Governing Board "automatically issues a total ban on the processing and deployment of all OFWs under Alert Level 3 and the government encourages OFWs remaining in a certain area to go home to the Philippines.”
On Dec. 10, 2013, the POEA Governing Board reimposed a total ban on the processing and deployment of returning and newly-hired OFWs to Yemen following a bomb attack at the Yemeni defense ministry complex on December 5.
In that attack, seven Filipinos were killed while 11 other OFWs were injured.
Last February 13, the POEA Governing Board allowing the re-deployment of returning OFWs to Yemen, subject to proof of existing employment. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News
But it maintained the processing and deployment ban for newly-hired OFWs.
The POEA said deployment of OFWs to Yemen reached only 646 in 2013, with 571 of them re-hires and 75 new hires.
Meanwhile, Baldoz said the DOLE is ready to undertake voluntary or mandatory repatriation, and provide OFWs returning from Yemen appropriate assistance services and programs.
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