DMW says no deployment ban for Saudi-bound OFWs

National

THE Philippines will not stop sending Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Saudi Arabia.

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) issued this clarification following the recent attack in King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that left 12 individuals dead and over 300 others injured.

“Right now, there is no deployment ban in Saudi Arabia. Economic life continues within the Kingdom. What we are seeing here is that the attacks are targeted, and the Kingdom has kept Filipinos safe. We are talking here of decades of protection afforded by the Kingdom to Filipinos in Saudi,” DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said at a press briefing on Monday, Oct. 12, per a report by Philstar.

A close coordination is being done between the DMW, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense regarding political and security assessments.

“Rest assured, we will coordinate with the DFA and DND in terms of getting advice on the political situation, but at this stage there is no deployment ban to Saudi Arabia,” Cacdac added.

According to DMW, 30 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are currently stranded in Riyadh due to canceled flights, 20 of whom are staying in DMW or Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) sponsored hotels.

“Meanwhile, seven OFWs were picked up by their relatives in Riyadh, two are seafarers in transit given accommodation in a hotel sponsored by the airline and one was fetched by the employer,” OWWA administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan reported.(MyTVCebu)