DFA calls for voluntary repatriation of Filipinos in Libya By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday urged Filipinos in Libya to voluntarily repatriate despite ''significant improvements'' in the political and security situation in the North African country. Separate crisis alert levels were previously imposed, with Tripoli and areas within a 100-kilometer radius under Alert Level 4 (mandatory repatriation) and areas outside that distance under Alert Level 2 (restricted phase). The DFA updated this on Wednesday by placing Libya under Crisis Alert Level 3 (voluntary repatriation). The agency explained that it updated the crisis alert level status for Libya upon observing that "while the political and security conditions in Libya remain fragile, there have been significant improvements in the country since 2019." "It is noted that Libya, despite the political divide between the east and the west, is currently not under a full-blown external attack from both sides. Conflicts in Libya, since 2019, are localized, sporadic, and targeted at combatants, which are not features of a large-scale civil conflict but rather of low-intensity conflicts," the DFA said. It also cited ongoing efforts, primarily through the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, to unite the two governments in Libya through the conduct of elections and unify and strengthen the country’s security apparatus. There are currently around 2,300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya, according to the DFA. The department said the OFWs in Libya are more concerned with the 305 pending labor issues than the conflict in the country. "[They] perceive the country as safe and secure. This perception of safety is grounded on the fact that most of the OFWs remaining in Libya are veterans of conflict, having survived the civil wars of 2011 and 2014–2020 and the fight with Daesh that accompanied the civil wars, and have thus adapted to the instability in the country," the DFA added. It said that the updated crisis alert level in Libya may be a chance to resolve the labor issues of the OFWs there. "The DFA therefore views the updated Crisis Alert Level 3 imposed on Libya as an opportunity for the country to resolve the pending labor issues of the remaining OFWs, which would consequently bring about the condition for the gradual relaxation of the deployment ban through selective deployment,'' the DFA said. — VBL, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more