‘Deport me:’ The harsh life of workers under a foreign bridge

For some time now, the media have always had a field day every time news or images of Filipino nationals living in seemingly harsh conditions under a bridge in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are published or seen on television screens.  Invariably, the message that such news or images deliver is that our Filipino “workers” are getting the raw end of their quest for better opportunities abroad.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

When Labor Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz assumed her new position on July 5, one of the very first things she did was to instruct the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah to file a report about this ugly recurring situation.  Baldoz wanted to know the true condition of the “under-the-bridge Filipinos” so the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) can act on the matter.

It is from the report that we get a clearer picture.

Vicente Cabe, the Philippine labor attaché in Jeddah, says not all of the nationalities who converge under the infamous bridge are Filipinos, and not all the Filipinos who are there are overseas workers.

“The people who congregate under the bridge are of different nationalities, and they are mostly from Umrah or Hajj countries, including, but not limited to, the Philippines, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and some African countries,” Cabe reported.

Baldoz herself explained that those “under-the-bridge Filipinos” are one of two groups of Philippine citizens the new Aquino government is working on to repatriate.

The other group consists of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) being sheltered at and cared for in 19 Filipino Workers Resource Centers in various locations in Asia and the Middle East.  There are 1,188 of them as of date, mostly women household service workers, who were either “runaways,” abused, or illegally recruited.

The “under-the-bridge Filipinos” number 1,200 as of July 2010.  More than half of this number, or 645, have already been documented, while the rest are still being profiled by the Philippine Consulate.

Converging point

The well-publicized bridge is actually not a bridge in the strictest sense of the word. It is a stretch of elevated highway in Jeddah’s Balad district.  It is this highway, or its underbelly, that shelters many roofless migrants in this part of the desert kingdom.

“The area below the bridge has earned the dubious popularity as the converging point of foreigners who have run afoul of Saudi law,” Cabe said.

“They gather here purposely to be arrested and, hopefully, deported,” he added.

The labor attaché, who has also served in this capacity in the United Arab Emirates, explained that, generally, overstaying a Hajj or Umrah visa, or absconding from work or employer, is a violation of the Saudi residency law.

He said many of those under the bridge have overstayed their Hajj or Umrah visa.  Others have incurred private money obligations to employers or coworkers. Still, others have committed criminal infractions and are wanted by the Saudi police.

“Because some of the Filipinos who troop to the bridge have overstayed their visas for a long time, the government has lost track of them.  It is only after they surface that we realize they are, indeed, still in foreign soil and that they needed assistance,” he explained.

‘Deport me’

The common thread that binds all of these people is the wish to return to their home countries.

The problem, Cabe said, is that most have no legal means to do so except one thing:  deportation.

“In Jeddah people wanting to get deported congregate in a place where there is a great likelihood of being arrested by the police or immigration authorities, and then sent to the deportation center for processing,” Cabe said.

This place is Kandara Bridge, also called Siteen Bridge, now known to the public, and even the police authorities, as the repository of hopes to be arrested and deported.

Cabe says that while there are people who stay under the bridge permanently, others take shelter with friends or relatives in Jeddah and troop to the area only when they think the authorities will conduct a raid or an arrest.

“That’s another problem,” he explained.  The waiting period to be arrested and deported could be long, because the authorities know exactly why foreigners converge under the Kandara Bridge.

“In most instances, they wait in vain,” said Cabe, adding that this sad reality has made many of the would-be deportees vulnerable to all sort of fixers of different nationalities who claim they can “arrange prioritization” of an arrest or deportation in exchange for amounts ranging from $200 to $400.

What has the government done?

In late 2009, the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah recognized the problem of Filipinos under the bridge and succeeded in negotiating with the Saudi General Directorate for Passports, or the Jawasat, for their pickup and deportation after they asked the consulate for assistance.

“The quick deportation sent a signal.  More Filipinos with a similar demand for repatriation trooped to the consulate.  This time around, the Jawasat was slow to respond to the consulate’s representation, forcing the would-be deportees to camp out on an island in the street across the consulate to force the issue,” said Cabe’s report.

Cabe said the Jawasat’s inaction at that time impelled the consulate to go to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, in turn, proposed the adoption by the DOLE of the Egyptian “model” of dealing with Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.  The “model” allows would-be deportees to stay at a terminal prior to their pickup and deportation.

With this, the DOLE allocated money for the maintenance and upkeep of a temporary holding center for Filipino would-be deportees.  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, forged an agreement with the Saudi foreign ministry allowing Filipinos the same privilege as the Egyptians.  This was in September 2009.

The agreement provides not only for the issuance of exit visas but also air tickets for the Filipinos’ journey back home. The setup made it easier for the consulate to process Filipinos in batches and in quick succession. Hundreds of them—men, women and children—were sheltered and fed three times daily while negotiations for their pick-up and deportation continued.

Registration, repatriation continue

Repatriation assistance for distressed workers is a continuing program of the DOLE and the DFA. From September 2009 until March 2010, 1,471 Filipinos have been repatriated through this setup. For this number, the Philippine government spent $464,940, including the amount of SR10 per person spent for the rent of the Hajj terminal and the food until the Filipinos were picked up by the Jawasat.

Still, after only a few months’ lull, many Filipinos, having heard of the success of the new deportation arrangement, came not only from Jeddah, but from as far away as Tabuk in the North, Jizan in the South, and in the western region of the Kingdom—all wishing to be repatriated.

“Until today, the consulate continues to document OFWs coming to register for voluntary deportation,” Cabe noted.

The task of housing and feeding a huge number was taxing for the limited number of consulate and POLO personnel, notwithstanding the money required for their repatriation, so the consulate had to prioritize women and children.

The consulate also had to screen the would-be deportees to identify those who choose to remain in the Kingdom either because they still have work, or they have places to stay or, at the very least, they still have valid part-time occupations.

There might be a need to beef up the POLO’s manpower complement now that Baldoz has set a timetable for the repatriation of all distressed OFWs.  Her policy is to ensure that any OFW who needs to be repatriated must be home within one month after he or she has obtained an exit visa or clearance. This is in keeping with President Aquino’s policy of providing OFWs expanded protection while the government is working to provide them jobs at home.

OFWs advised:  Don’t listen to rumors

And if there is one good advice that Baldoz has for OFWs facing the prospect of deportation for one reason or another, it is that they should refrain from entertaining baseless rumors.

“There is this wrong notion entertained by OFWs in this dire situation that once they surrender voluntarily, they are going to be immediately repatriated. This should be corrected,” she said.

“The Jawasat conducts thorough investigation of every deportee and those with derogatory records are jailed or returned to their employers,” she added.

Advice number two?  “Follow the law,” she said.

“We don’t tolerate infraction of our citizens of the laws of foreign countries, but we won’t abandon them either.  We will get them home,” she pledged.

‘We have resources for repatriation’

Contrary to rumors, the government has the resources to bring home OFWs wanting to, well, get home.

From 2006 to date, the government has repatriated 38,351 OFWs, or an average of 9,600 persons per year.  For this year alone, the DOLE has allocated P37.177 million for repatriation assistance.

And because repatriation tickets are required for would-be deportees before they are endorsed to the Saudi deportation center for documentary processing, Baldoz has warned recruitment agencies whose deployed workers get into trouble to ensure that they provide them ready airline tickets, as the law requires.

“The government performs its obligations to our distressed workers. Private overseas recruitment agencies and their principals must perform theirs.  Otherwise, we will take them into task,” she vowed.

Baldoz also warned illegal recruiters, fixers, scammers, and especially traffickers that target women and children, saying the DOLE will ran after them, and when they get caught, punish them to the full extent of the law.

“Predatory activities that cause distress and other problems for our OFWs will be dealt with heavily, and I call on all victims to cooperate with the government so that we can swiftly prosecute the perpetrators of these activities,” she said.

Mr. Fameronag is director, Labor Communications Office of the Department of Labor and Employment –Nicon F. Fameronag, Businessmirror