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
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
