Pinoys in Saudi Arabia warned to renew passports before Nov 3 crackdown

Tags: Saudi Arabia

The impending crackdown on illegal workers on November 3 has led to another reminder against fixers and the acquirement of fake documents.
 
The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reminded Filipinos not to rely on the “services” of unscrupulous groups in a press release on Sunday. Marriage and birth cirtificates, as well as iqamas, were referred to as examples of documents which could be forged. 
 
In the same statement, the public was warned against Aiza Monares and Albert Guanzon, who were accused of forging documents in sworn affidavits by several Filipinos.
 
According to the statement, Guanzon was mentioned in an advisory from 2009 by former Labor Attaché David Des Dicang, indicating the former's history of questionable activities.
 
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin H. Tago stressed that the all fronts are serious in their fight against fixers. He also said that nationals should refer their cases to the Embassy and officials of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, and avail of the services offered by their outreach missions,reported "Arab News." 
 
To reach out to reluctant Filipinos, a team headed by Tago met with leaders of various Filipino organizations in the Eastern Region to ask their help in reaching out to Filipinos with expired passports
 
These missions feature the replacement and renewal of expired passports, as well as the granting of travel documents. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) allowed thousands of Filipinos who availed of the service to skip over various regular requirements and sped up the issuance of passports.
 
“Arab News” reported on Saturday that 850 Filipinos were served at the outreach mission in Al-Jazeera International School in Dammam. An online appointment system is also set to open soon. 
 
The Nov. 3 crackdown is a result of a four-month reprieve given by the Saudi government last July. The amnesty was granted a day before a previous three-month break expired. The crackdown was a result of the government's efforts to enforce labor reforms, which saw companies reserving jobs for locals. 
 
Since the meeting last Oct. 11, the DFA reported that 79 Filipinos have been repatriated from the Eastern Region, which made the total number of repatriates over 4,000. The Saudi Passport Department is currently processing the paperwork of 1,761 more Filipinos seeking repatriation. – KDM, GMA News 
 

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