6,000 OFWs decline Saudi amnesty offer

More than 6,000 undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia failed to beat the Saudi government’s deadline to voluntarily leave.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said these overstaying OFWs would not be jailed but would be “individually repatriated” once they have paid all their debts.

Since the 90-day amnesty was offered last March 29, a total of 5,122 undocumented OFWs have been repatriated.

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported to the DFA that the amnesty program had ended and the Saudi government had not announced any extension of the amnesty program for undocumented migrants.

“We have 5,122 that have gone home and some 12,000 registered Filipinos. This means there is a balance of 6,000-plus Filipinos who are still awaiting” repatriation, said Raul Dado, acting executive director of the DFA office of the undersecretary for migrant workers affairs.