DFA chief mulls deadline for Pinoys to leave troubled Yemen
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Wednesday said he is mulling setting a deadline for the remaining Filipinos in strife-torn Yemen to avail of the government's repatriation program.
“I like to put a deadline frankly because [we are] putting our people there... at risk,” Del Rosario said in an interview on ANC's “Headstart” program.
However, he said the government will exert all its efforts to bring all Filipino workers out of Yemen.
“I said I want to put a deadline, but the policy is we leave no one behind, if they are ready to come home, we must be there,” Del Rosario said.
The government raised Alert Level 4 in Yemen last February, making repatriation mandatory for Filipinos there. Some 450 Filipinos had already been repatriated since then.
The move came after the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia, which has consular jurisdiction over Filipinos in Yemen, cited the worsening political and security situation in the Southwest Asian nation due to the ongoing armed conflict there.
According to Del Rosario, there are 300 more Filipino workers who are still in Yemen, including nurses who are adamant on returning to the Philippines for fear of unemployment.
“There are number of nurses, they are senior in age and they feel they don’t have opportunities here (Philippines),” he said. “Those are our challenges not only in Yemen but also in Libya.”
The government is similarly implementing a repatriation program in Libya due to the worsening security situation there.
Del Rosario said Filipinos in Yemen could be divided in three categories — those who can be brought home, those who want to wait for the last minute, and those who do not want to go home.
“Those who want to come home are [being] taking cared of right now,” he said.
“For those who want to wait, we [are] saying that if the situation becomes extremely dangerous... [then] maybe this will be the last time, we might not able to get you if it’s too late,” the DFA chief added. —KBK, GMA News
“I like to put a deadline frankly because [we are] putting our people there... at risk,” Del Rosario said in an interview on ANC's “Headstart” program.
However, he said the government will exert all its efforts to bring all Filipino workers out of Yemen.
“I said I want to put a deadline, but the policy is we leave no one behind, if they are ready to come home, we must be there,” Del Rosario said.
The government raised Alert Level 4 in Yemen last February, making repatriation mandatory for Filipinos there. Some 450 Filipinos had already been repatriated since then.
The move came after the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia, which has consular jurisdiction over Filipinos in Yemen, cited the worsening political and security situation in the Southwest Asian nation due to the ongoing armed conflict there.
According to Del Rosario, there are 300 more Filipino workers who are still in Yemen, including nurses who are adamant on returning to the Philippines for fear of unemployment.
“There are number of nurses, they are senior in age and they feel they don’t have opportunities here (Philippines),” he said. “Those are our challenges not only in Yemen but also in Libya.”
The government is similarly implementing a repatriation program in Libya due to the worsening security situation there.
Del Rosario said Filipinos in Yemen could be divided in three categories — those who can be brought home, those who want to wait for the last minute, and those who do not want to go home.
“Those who want to come home are [being] taking cared of right now,” he said.
“For those who want to wait, we [are] saying that if the situation becomes extremely dangerous... [then] maybe this will be the last time, we might not able to get you if it’s too late,” the DFA chief added. —KBK, GMA News
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