OFWs may leave strife-torn Libya even without exit visa–DOLE

OFWs from Libya. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino workers may leave the war-torn Libya even without an exit visa, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

The Libyan Ministry of Labor gave the go signal for Filipinos to leave the troubled country even without the required exit visa, Baldoz said in a statement.

She said Labor Attache to Tripoli Nasser Mustafa reported to Philippine Overseas Employment Administrator Hans Cacdac that “exit visa is no longer a problem for our OFWs.”

Baldoz added that labor officials need not to negotiate with Libyan employers to issue exit visas for OFWs.

“This also means that Filipino workers who wish to avail of the mandatory repatriation need not beg with their employers to allow them to leave Libya,” Baldoz said.

In his report, Labor Attache Mustafa said he has a masterlist of 722 OFW repatriates, 549 of whom have already left Libya for the Philippines.

The country’s Department of Foreign Affairs has raised crisis alert level 4 in Libya, implementing a total deployment ban and mandatory evacuation.

The government has been unstable since the fall of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddhafi in 2011.

The conflict in the Libyan capital Tripoli started when Islamist-led militias — mostly from the western city of Misrata — launched a surprise assault on the airport, which under control of rival militias composed of mostly anti-Gadhafi rebels.

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