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MANILA, Philippines?A militant migrant labor group said that up to 100 foreigners, including an undisclosed number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), were detained in hot, overcrowded prison cells in the Malaz Central Jail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Migrante-Middle East appealed to the Aquino administration to "do something about the problem as soon as possible." for the detained OFWs being held in 5x8-meter prison cells in the Middle East kingdom where temperatures can soar to over 40 degrees Celsius.
John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator on Monday told the Philippine Daily Inquirer they were "praying none of our jailed OFWs will suffer the fate of the five Ethiopian workers who recently died at a deportation center in the southern Red Sea port of Jizan."
The Riyadh-based Arab News reported last week that the Ethiopian detainees died of "asphyxation due to overcrowding," according to Monterona.
At the Malaz jail, "jailed OFWs also informed us that most of them are sleeping on the floor, using only used box cartons as sleeping mats."
The OFWs "have requested for mattresses and blankets, as well as medicines, in preparation for the winter season," said Monterona.
In an e-mail, Monterona also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) not to be selective in providing aid to troubled Filipinos abroad.
"When Ilocos Sur Representative Ronaldo Singson was arrested in Hong Kong due to drug-related charges, the DFA promptly offered legal aid. However, when ordinary OFWs get into trouble, it's entirely a different story," he pointed out.
DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya has repeatedly said personnel of Philippine embassies and consulates abroad "conduct regular jail visits to look after the welfare of Filipinos in jail."
Malaya, however, said "approval of jail visitation in some countries depends on the host government."
Some 3,000 Filipinos are in jail in different countries worldwide, said the DFA.
About 70 percent of the detainees are facing immigration-related charges and would be deported after serving their brief sentences.
"The rest are in custody for committing common crimes, including theft and drug trafficking," said Malaya.
Meanwhile, 97 Kuwait-based OFWs were repatriated to on Monday.
"Most of these Filipinos left their employers for various reasons and sought refuge at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (in Kuwait City). They were sheltered there from three to eight months," said the DFA.
In a report to the home office, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Shulan Primavera said "through representations by the Philippine embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, Kuwait immigration authorities waived the OFWs' usual exit requirements."
The Kuwaiti government also shouldered the repatriates' plane fares, Primavera also said.
According to the envoy, "our OFWs were spared from being placed at the deportation center where they could have stayed longer if their work sponsors refuse to cooperate with the police."
