Gov’t asks UAE’s ‘leniency’ on stranded Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said it would ask the government of the United Arab Emirates not to drive away the thousands of overseas Filipino workers stranded along UAE’s border with Oman.

DFA acting secretary Esteban Conejos Jr said they would first coordinate with UAE officials before deciding whether or not to bring the workers home, adding that repatriation was currently not yet an option.

“(The decision to repatriate the OFWs) will depend on how the UAE government responds to our request for leniency," Conejos told GMANews.TV in an interview.

He also assured that a team from the Philippine Embassy in Dubai would meet with the stranded OFWs at the border to check their condition.

Conejos said that the new policy on the issuance of visas in UAE had been implemented on July 29.

The new regulation, which directs previous visit visa holders to reapply as tourists, led to the rejection of thousands of visa applications from the Filipinos.

“The Filipinos had been warned since March (about the new rule)," said Conejos, but added the Philippine government would nevertheless still try to work things out with the UAE government.

There had been varying reports on the number of stranded Filipinos outside the UAE, but roughly 6,000 Filipinos had been affected by the change in visa policies, the DFA said.

In one part of the Oman border, some 1,000 OFWs were forced to hole up in a number of hotels, according to Conejos.

Since Tuesday, a four-man consulate team from the embassy in Muscat has been dispatched to Al Buraimi, along the Oman-UAE border to help the Filipinos, according to Conejos.

He said teams from the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, and the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai were also on their way to the area. Representatives from the two offices will also be making "high-level representation" with UAE authorities on behalf of the stranded Filipinos.

Meanwhile, teams from the Philippine Embassy in Tehran will be dispatched to Kish Island in Iran’s province of Hormozgān.

A free trade zone, Kish is being used as a steppingstone for foreigners — including Filipinos — seeking jobs in the UAE and other Gulf states because visitors are not required to obtain visas before entry. - Mark Ubalde and Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV

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