Only OFWs in Iraq who want to leave will be evacuated
Credit to Author: Bernadette Tamayo| Date: Thu, 09 Jan 2020 16:15:47 +0000
Only Filipino workers who want to leave Iraq after tensions escalated in the Middle East will be repatriated by the Philippine government.
The apparent shift from the previous order of President Rodrigo Duterte for the mandatory evacuation of all 1,640 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Iraq came about as the United States and Iran defused what had been a volatile situation that was triggered by the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack in Baghdad, Iraq on January 3.
Asked on Thursday if the repatriation of OFWs from Iraq would still proceed now that Iran and the US seemed to have stood down, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez said, “Yes, for those willing to return.”
Pressed for clarification because the DFA had raised Alert Level 4 in Iraq, which calls for mandatory repatriation, Meñez said, “Alert Level 4 is mandatory, but experience has shown otherwise.”
“Alert levels are constantly reviewed and adjusted as needed,” he said in a text message.
In a tweet on Thursday, the Foreign Affairs department said Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. confirmed that the alert level means mandatory evacuation.
The Philippine Embassy in Baghdad has been directed to carry out the mandatory evacuation.
Also on Thursday, Malacañang announced that Duterte had assigned Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to lead the special committee that would oversee the evacuation and possible repatriation of Filipinos in the Middle East.
Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. would serve as vice chairman of the committee, while the secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Labor and Employment, Interior and Local Government, Transportation, and Environment and Natural Resources would serve as members.
On Wednesday, Duterte ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Iran and Iraq after Tehran fired missiles at US military bases in Ain al-Asad and Erbil in Iraq.
Panelo said the Philippine government intends to move Filipinos from Iraq and Iran to a safe place, possibly Qatar.
He welcomed as “good news” US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement that Iran “appears to be standing down” after its missile attack on US military bases in Iraq.
“That’s good news for all of us. If the conflict has deescalated instead of escalating, then thats good news for everyone, especially for our overseas Filipinos. But, nevertheless, the move to evacuate and repatriate is still going on,” Panelo said during a press briefing.
Taking Filipino workers from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon to a safe place would continue “unless the deescalation reaches a point where the safety of our countrymen is no longer in peril,” he added.
On Thursday, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu left for the Middle East to kickstart the evacuation of OFWs in Iraq.
“The worst scenario might come and we will never go wrong if we move now,” he said in a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before leaving for Qatar on a Philippine Airlines flight.
Cimatu will meet government representatives or the rapid team in Qatar to discuss how to move out OFWs in Iraq.
Cimatu was told some airlines were still operating and roads were still open, so they would take the opportunity to move out the Filipinos out of Iraq.
The Bureau of Immigration, meanwhile, is bracing for the influx of OFWs who will be brought home from the Middle East in the event of a full-blown war between the US and Iran.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said on Thursday he had ordered all Immigration personnel at NAIA and other international ports “to see to it that adequate manpower is available to address a possible upsurge in the number of passengers arriving from the Middle East.”
Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd assured the more than 2 million Filipino workers in the Middle East of full repatriation and evacuation support, including provisions for food and medicine.
Bello said aside from the P100 million that had been remitted to different Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in the region, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration had another P500,000 million on standby for crisis and emergency situations.
Repatriated Filipinos will be provided with livelihood assistance, offered with training under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and will be encouraged to apply for other overseas job markets such as Russia, Japan and Canada.
Following escalating tensions in the Middle East, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go renewed his call for the creation of the Department of Overseas Filipinos that will be responsible for the promotion of welfare and protection of rights of Filipino migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos.
The creation of the department is one of Go’s campaign promises during the May 2019 elections.
“I am calling on my colleagues in the Senate and the leadership of Congress to pass the [bill creating the] Department of Overseas Filipino Workers,” he said in an interview.
“Let us not wait to have a crisis or another OFW killed,” he added, referring to the death of Jeanelyn Villavende in Kuwait.
WITH REPORTS FROM BENJAMIN L. VERGARA, WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL