Stranded OFWs in Saudi cry for help to get home

Three stranded overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia appealed to the government to help them get home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras" on Wednesday, Lia, Hazel, and Joan have been stranded for months inside an accommodation facility of a foreign recruitment agency in Al-Qassim. The OFWs said their employers are not helping them anymore. They said they have no adequate supply of food and water. The three moved in the facility after their employers violated their contracts. "Ilang beses na po akong pinangakuan ng agency ko na uuwi na raw po ako pero wala po, hindi po sila umaaksyon," one of the OFWs said. Some of them even experienced maltreatment and human trafficking from their employers. GMA News has reached out to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regarding their situation and it has promised to help them return home. The OFWs will also be transferred to the shelter of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Saudi. "We will try to board them in the next mass repatriation flight but they could also board in a commercial flight, either way, they don't have to pay for anything," OWWA administrator Hans Cacdac said. GMA News has reached out to the OFWs' respective recruitment agencies but they have yet to respond as of posting time.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News

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