DFA wants to exempt OFWs in Libya with valid contracts from deployment ban

MANILA, Philippines —The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday have proposed an expanded coverage on the current deployment ban on OFWs in Libya.

In a statement, the DFA said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. asked Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III to endorse to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) his recommendation to exempt overseas Filipino workers in Libya with valid and existing contracts from the current deployment ban.

This is to allow more Filipinos workers to go on vacation in the Philippines and return to their jobs in Libya.

READ: Locsin to address call of OFWs in Libya about going home for Christmas

The proposed exemptions will cover those stranded in the Philippines after the DFA raised an Alert Level III in Libya due to rising violence in Tripoli last September.

READ: DFA urges Filipinos in Libya to take precautions as rival militias clash

With the proposed exemptions, Filipino workers are required to submit a copy of their employment contract.

This includes their respective salary and benefits, and a letter from their employer or sponsor requesting their return and an undertaking guaranteeing their safety and security.

The DFA noted that the OFWs and their families must also submit “a sworn statement acknowledging the risks involved in working in Libya as well as the limited capability of the Philippine Embassy to assist them during emergencies or contingencies.”

The said documents must then be verified by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Tripoli. /je