POEA lifts deployment ban in Afghanistan for some OFWs

NATO military vehicles leave the Camp Qargha, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. Earlier in the day, a man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on foreign troops at the military base, killing a U.S. two-star general and wounding others, among them a German brigadier general and a number of Americans troops, authorities said. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) has partially lifted a deployment ban on Filipino workers in Afghanistan, according to a report on Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

The POEA governing board, through Resolution No. 21, S. 2014 released on August 5, said the lifting of the ban would apply to Filipinos working for diplomats, foreign embassies and missions of the United Nations and other international organizations.

Also, Filipinos working in American military camps and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and their contractors are also allowed to return to Afghanistan.

In addition, those employed by the Afghan government and those married to Afghan nationals are allowed to return to this country.

This partial lifting of the deployment ban in Afghanistan comes with the condition that the Filipinos who will be returning there have valid and existing contracts and that their employers can guarantee their safety in the event of imminent danger.

The Department of Foreign Affairs last July declared that Afghanistan was under Crisis Alert Level 3 which entails voluntary repatriation, prompting the POEA to declare the total deployment ban in the said country.

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