PHL envoy: Undocumented Pinoys in Saudi 'not panicking' as July 3 end of reprieve nears



Tags: Saudi Arabia
On the eve of the July 3 deadline to correct their status or leave the Kingdom without penalty, Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are showing signs of worry but are not acting frantically, a Philippine official there said on Tuesday.
 
Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay claimed that the Filipinos there are not showing signs of panic as they have their documents processed.
 
"Maayos ang kababayan natin. Malaki ang pagalala nila hindi naman sila gaano frantic," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.
 
Garibay also reiterated that there are signs that the July 3 deadline will be extended.
 
He said his office received instructions from Saudi Arabia's passport department, which processes Filipinos' exit visas, to instruct Filipinos go there on July 6, beyond the deadline.

The crackdown operations against undocumented workers in Saudi started on March 28 this year because of 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 to a crackdown on illegal migrant workers that has led to thousands of deportations.

The reprieve, which will end on July 4 this year, aims to give foreigners in the kingdom a chance to sort out their papers.
 
Saudi expats hope for miracle as deadline nears
 
As some companies mull going to court over the Saudi government’s July 3 deadline, expats — including Filipinos — are hoping for a "miracle" that their days of confusion would end.
 
According to an  Arab News report, illegal workers from the Philippines and other countries had exhausted all means to leave the Kingdom before July 3 but could not do so as their papers could not be cleared on time.
 
In Jeddah, the report said thousands of workers from the Philippines, Bangladesh and Yemen are clueless about their fate since the last day for their biometric recording was Thursday.
 
Up to 90 percent of the applicants have not been able to go through the process, the report said.
 
“We are just waiting for a miracle to happen,” said Rai Linita, a Filipino worker camping for nearly four months now.
 
In Dammam, thousands of Asian expatriates who want to leave the Kingdom had been sleeping on the roads, waiting for their turn to record their biometrics at the deportation center.
 
Yet, the process remained slow due to limited logistics.
 
A separate Arab News report said some businessmen are threatening to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Labor and the Passport Department for what they claimed is the “extremely slow” pace of corrective procedures.
 
The Labor Ministry has warned that it will impose fines and jail sentences against illegals after the July 3 deadline lapses. - VVP, GMA News

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