POEA okays partial lifting of OFW deployment to South Sudan

 The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has allowed the deployment of a group of Filipino workers to a company in South Sudan, but only upon recommendation by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

 In Resolution No. 3, Series of 2016, the POEA Governing Board approved the deployment of OFWs to Pacific Architects and Engineers, Incorporated (PAE) which has projects with the US State Department in South Sudan under the Flight Ops Support Program. In a letter to the POEA Governing Board Chairman, Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, the DFA reiterated that South Sudan is under Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation Phase) and as such, the travel and deployment ban on all OFWs is maintained.

 However, the DFA said Filipinos working for the United Nations, and other international organizations and international NGOs with travel clearance may travel and temporarily stay in South Sudan. The deployment of OFWs to PAE was allowed subject to employer’s assumption of responsibility for the timely and safe evacuation of the workers should the security situation demand the same and issuance of travel clearance from the DFA. In another resolution, the POEA Governing Board also reaffirmed the Crisis Alert Level 1 issued by the DFA for Pakistan after an attack by alleged Taliban forces in a university, which killed at least 20 people.

There is no deployment or travel ban but Filipinos are advised to take necessary precautions during their stay in Pakistan particular in areas such as Balochistan Province, Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khybere Pakhtunwa, and Kashmir-Jammu.

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