At least 33 undocumented Filipino workers were apprehended in a series of intensified crackdown by Saudi authorities on illegal migrants in the Middle East state despite the issuance of amnesty for overstaying aliens.
Citing a report from the Philippine Labor Overseas Office in Al-Khobar, migrant worker group Migrante said those arrested were 27 women and six men.
Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said Saudi authorities started raiding various accommodations of foreign migrant workers on suspicion that they are overstaying and undocumented expatriates.
On Tuesday night, a composite team from Jawasat police and Mutawa or cultural police started the crackdown by raiding apartments and houses at Tukbah, Al-Khobar, where suspected undocumented migrants, including Filipinos, are staying.
“We appeal to the Saudi government to respect the rights of undocumented migrants, including Filipino workers,” Monterona said.
It was not clear why the arrests were made despite the amnesty.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh are currently verifying this information, but assured that consular assistance will be provided to the arrested Filipinos.
Last September, the Saudi Arabian government announced a six-month amnesty for illegal foreigners overstaying their visas, saying they would be allowed to leave the Kingdom without punishment.
The amnesty covers Haj pilgrims or other foreigners holding any other type of visas which had expired, or violated passport department regulations.
Those who will avail of the amnesty must report to the nearest Department for Foreign Affairs from Sept. 25, 2010 to March 23, 2011.
Violators caught after this grace period will receive severe punishment, including jail time and heavy fines. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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