Bring home 111 stranded Pinoys in Jeddah - group

migrants group in Saudi Arabia called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday to immediately repatriate at least 111 stranded Filipinos in Jeddah, mostly workers who ran away from their abusive employers.

Many of the distressed Filipinos have also fallen victims to fixers who promised them a “backdoor exit" in Jeddah in exchange for money. They were dropped off near the Al-Khandara flyover supposedly to wait to be picked up by immigration agents for deportation.

They were then moved under a bridge, which practically became a tent city. There were other foreign nationals waiting for deportation under the bridge.

Some stranded Filipino women who ran away from their abusive employers are temporarily accommodated at the Women's Center in the consulate.

A.M. Ociones, chairman of the Saudi Arabia chapter of Migrante International, said some of the stranded Filipinos trooped to the Philippine consulate to appeal for help but were told that they have to observe “due process" for their repatriation.

"We believe the government can do more than force the stranded Pinoys to go back to square one by working for 'due process' as what the Philippine consulate here has been asking them to," Ociones said in a press statement.

"We believe it is the height of callousness to ask them to go through the same process that forced them to camp out under the bridge in the first place," Ociones added.

Last year, almost a hundred Filipinos stranded under the bridge were repatriated through the diplomatic intervention of then Concul General Pendosina Lomondot.

"The government has succeeded in mass repatriation just a few months before, so why not now?" Ociones asked. "Now is the time to again prove that the government's concern for the welfare of the OFWs is not all talk."

Migrante International is an alliance of Filipino organizations asserting the rights and welfare of migrants and their families all over the world. - GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more