Over 200 undocumented Pinoys in Oman availed of amnesty –DOLE

Some 200 overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) have availed of the four-month general amnesty granted by the Sultanate of Oman to illegal or overstaying foreign workers there, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday.

More than half of these OFWs, or 110, have already arrived home, with 28 more scheduled to depart Oman on June 28, the DOLE said.

The remaining OFWs will be repatriated after the Holy Month of Ramadan, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, citing a report from Labor Attache to Oman Nasser Mustafa.

The amnesty, which took effect on April 1 and will end on July 31, enables illegal immigrants to rectify their status.

“The four-month amnesty is part of Oman's efforts to regulate the presence of foreign workers there,” Baldoz said.

Mustafa's report also said distressed OFWs staying at the Migrant Workers and Other Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC) have availed of the amnesty, with 17 of them already in the Philippines.

At present, there are only eight wards at the MWOFRC, the report said.

Baldoz urged Filipinos staying illegally in Oman “to avail of this amnesty while there is still time.”
 
The amnesty is covered by the guidelines under the labor law promulgated by the Sultanate's Royal Decree 35/2003, Mustafa said.
 
Following the announcement of the amnesty, Oman's Ministry of Manpower and the Royal Oman Police have been conducting raids against undocumented migrant workers, tightening controls on work permits and tenancy contracts, and scrutinizing landlords and their tenants. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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