Stranded Filipinos in Jeddah sent for processing to deportation center

After a long wait, the remaining stranded OFWs who lived in tents at the Philippine consulate grounds in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for three weeks have finally been taken to the deportation area for processing of their exit papers.

There were about 70 Filipinos who ran away from their employers on various reasons, including reduced or non-payment of their salaries, poor working conditions, physical and verbal harm, and substitution of contract terms.

They were boarded on a bus at past 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to Eric Jocson, one of the stranded Filipinos who have agreed to leave the kingdom through legal means.

Earlier, the run away Filipinos refused to give their real identity and the names of their employers on fear of being returned to their ‘abusive’ employers, or facing trump up charges.

Jocson said there were a few of his colleagues who were left behind because they came late for the bus. But consulate officials assured they would all be sent to the deportation area for processing.

“I think this is what they have discussed during their meeting last night which lasted until 1 in the morning. I saw almost all the officials involved in our repatriation came last night. Then they told us to get ready because the bus will come to get us," Jocson said.

Other consulate officials said two or three of the stranded Filipinos remained their employer already coordinated with the embassy and would be issued exit visas.

Before setting up camps at the consulate grounds three weeks ago, the Filipinos stayed under a bridge in Jeddah, waiting for immigration police to pick them up for deportation.

Reports said many of them have fallen victims to agents who promised them ‘backdoor exit" in exchange for huge sums of money.

Expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia are required to have “no Objection Certificates" before they can secure exit visas to be able to leave the kingdom.

More than 40 of stranded Filipinos in Jeddah had been sent home. - Ronaldo Concha, 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