DOLE: PHL, Saudi officials helping 10,000 undocumented workers avoid arrest

Philippine and Saudi authorities are working to help more than 10,000 undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) avoid arrest in Saudi Arabia when the crackdown on undocumented workers resumes after the reprieve ends on July 3, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

“Our understanding with the Saudi counterpart  officials is that part of our bilateral is to ensure that all 10,000 documents are already secured even after July 3,” Baldoz told reporters.
 
“I asked if that could be extended because July 3 deadline is very short considering 10,000 sila. But very politely they (Saudi government officials) said it is so difficult to get extension because its no less than Saudi King Abdullah  who will have to act on that,” she said.
 
She noted that the Philippine embassy "will continue to process the papers of OFWs and they are interested to keep the workers there.”

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an agency under DOLE, said Philippine Embassy officials in Riyadh are speeding up the processing of exit papers of undocumented OFWs in Saudi Arabia.

The  drive against illegal foreigners  is part of the Saudi government’s Saudization policy (nitaqat), which aims to put more Saudi nationals into private sector jobs.

The crackdown operations on undocumented workers began on March 28 this year, in keeping with the “Saudization” policy (nitaqat), or the policy encouraging the employment of Saudi nationals in private firms.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on April 6 ordered a three-month delay on a crackdown on illegal migrant workers that has led to thousands of deportations.

The reprieve, which will end on July 3 this year, aims to give foreigners in the kingdom a chance to sort out their papers.

According to the migrant workers group Migrante, as of June 15, only 10 percent of undocumented workers have been cleared to leave, among them are at least 4,500 Filipinos.

“The PH Consulate issued over 4,500 travel documents and approximately 2,000 underwent fingerprinting procedures… but none of them has received exit clearances so far,” Migrante International chairman Garry Martine, quoting an Arab news report.

He said the Philippine embassy, Labor and OWWA  are  taking  whatever steps needed to address the needs of the OFWs who wanted to leave Saudi.” - VVP, GMA News

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