Gov’t travel ban to Iraq stays, says DFA

Government travel ban to Iraq will stay even as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has removed a stamp in Philippine passports, which says that it can not be used for travel to the conflict-stricken state.

The discontinuation of the practice of placing this stamp on Philippine passports “is not tantamount to allowing the travel to Iraq for employment purposes,” the DFA explained in a statement.

“There are countries in which deployment bans have been imposed such as Nigeria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Jordan, and the Philippine passports are not made to reflect these,” it said.

The “Not Valid for Travel to Iraq” stamp can be found on the limitations page of previously issued Philippine passports.

On July 1, 2011, the DFA deleted this marking in all the new passports. It said it was a subsequent decision by concerned government agencies that the function of informing Filipino of the employment ban will be adequately served by having the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issue travel advisories and labor deployment bans in countries.

Manila imposed the ban on Iraq following the kidnapping of two Filipino truck drivers in 2004 and 2005.

Angelo de la Cruz was threatened to be beheaded by his captors in July 2004, but later on was released after President Arroyo capitulated to the demand of the kidnappers to withdraw a small Philippine contingent in Iraq — a decision strongly criticized by Washington and other allies.

Another Filipino, accountant Robert Tarongoy, was also abducted by militants and freed in June 2005 after eight months of captivity.

Before the ban, about 6,000 Filipinos are working in Iraq and are confined inside US military camps due to the volatile security condition there. But the Iraqi Embassy in Manila said the figure has swelled to 15,000, most of them working for foreign companies in Iraq’s northern region.

These Filipinos, they said, entered Iraq from neighboring countries like Jordan and Syria and were brought in by companies from the US and other countries that are members of the coalition forces.

There is no way to monitor to exit and entry of Filipino workers in Iraq after the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad was temporarily relocated to Amman, Jordan in January 2005 because of the volatile security condition in Iraq. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune