Second batch of Pinoys to be repatriated from Iraq on Jan. 23 —DFA


Published January 21, 2020 6:34pm
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News

Another batch of overseas Filipino workers is set to return to the Philippines from Iraq before the month ends amid the heightening tension in the Middle East due to the US-Iran conflict.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola made the announcement Tuesday during the hearing of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs on the recent issues affecting Filipino migrant workers.
"Most recent update from Baghdad is there is going to be another batch of repatriates leaving January 23. Five from Baghdad, four from Erbil," Arriola said during the meeting.
Alert Level 4 has recently been raised over Iraq after the death of top Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike sparked turmoil in the Middle East, resulting in the mandatory repatriation of Filipinos there.
Last week, 13 Filipinos from Iraq have been returned to the Philippines, nine of them came from Baghdad and four from Erbil.

Arriola said, however, that the Philippine government cannot force Filipinos to leave Iraq, especially those who prefer not to return to the country due to lack of potential employment.
"The mandatory repatriation, we are just making ourselves available to any Filipino who wants to return, because we cannot also force them to leave the country," she said.
"Our instructions from Secretary [Teddy Boy] Locsin is to not leave the post so long as there's one Filipino on the ground. So we will stay in our posts until everyone's out of harm's way," she added.
Nevertheless, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said two Navy ships have already been deployed to the Middle East to carry Filipinos back to the Philippines should tensions in the region further escalate.
There is also a new ship for the Philippine Coast Guard in Malta that is ready to deliver Filipinos in the Middle East to a safe place before they can be repatriated to the Philippines, he added.
"[These are] just as insurance that if something happens there, magkaroon ng bakbakan talaga, we have some assets there," Lorenzana said.
"Eventually, we'll have three ships in the Middle East, two from the Navy and one from the Coast Guard," he added.
On January 3, Tehran’s elite Quds Force commander and architect of its growing military influence in the Middle East, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad. Iran on January 8 struck back firing rockets at Iraq's bases, where US forces were located.
On the same day, at least 176 passengers were killed when Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane while on alert after its missile strikes on US targets in Iraq. —LDF, GMA News

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