Filipina wrongfully jailed in Qatar freed

MANILA, Philippines—A Filipina wrongfully jailed in Qatar over an already dismissed absconding case has been released, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Friday.

The Filipina, whose name was withheld by Philippine embassy officials, was sent to the Qatar Deportation Center on September 4 when a glitch in the police database showed she had a pending absconding case filed by her former employer.

Through a text message, the Filipina informed Binay about her case, prompting him to instruct the Philippine Embassy in Qatar to assist the detained worker.

“Embassy officials located the employer, who then informed Qatari immigration officials that the OFW has been cleared of the absconding case and cleared to work for another employer,” Binay said in a statement.

The Filipina was released after the celebration of the Eid El Fitr holidays, he said.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar asked the Ministry of Interior to provide the Filipino worker with a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to let her find another job while waiting for the labor court to decide on a separate claim for back wages.

The Philippine Embassy has requested the worker’s former employer to issue an NOC for humanitarian reasons.

Her absconding case was also deleted from Qatar’s Ministry of Interior database, said Binay