DOLE suspends deployment of OFWs to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen

MANILA, Philippines – The government has stopped the deployment of Filipino workers in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has deferred the processing of employment contracts of Filipinos bound for these countries.

“On the part of DOLE, we are making sure that before we send out any workers abroad, the places that they are going to will guarantee their safety,” he said.

Lacierda said the government is ready to repatriate Filipinos from these countries if necessary. “We are preparing for that just in case,“ he said.

“There are contingency protocols in place already as we have experienced in Egypt, so we are prepared for that.”

Lacierda said protocols are already in place in case the tensions escalate, and that exit points by land and air, as well as evacuation centers, have already been prepared.

“We have appointed sectoral coordinators to be in constant touch with the communities,” he said.

The hotline numbers for Manama are as follows: embassy +97317721234; local attaché +97317740951; welfare officer +97317721903.

For Tripoli, the embassy hotline is +218918244208.

‘Protests, an offshoot of economic situation’

Protests in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries could be an offshoot of the worsening economic situation, according to Migrante.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator, warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia not to act, gather or wear anything that may be construed as “waging protests.”

He said the protests started in Tunisia then Egypt, and are now sweeping over other Arab countries like Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya. —-Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) with Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano