Illegal OFWs in Saudi won’t beat exit deadline

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz: Saudi employers still prefer Filipinos .INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are still awaiting repatriation even as the July 3 amnesty deadline set by the Saudi Arabian government for undocumented and overstaying foreigners nears, according to a migrant workers rights group.

Migrante said only 600 of 10,000 undocumented OFWs in Saudi Arabia had undergone fingerprinting, known locally as Jawasat, a requirement of the Saudi directorate for passport control prior to the issuance of exit visas or exit permits.

Waiting in vain

“The bottom line is that thousands of stranded OFWs are still waiting in vain to complete their repatriation formalities. We fear that the estimated 10,000 to 12,000 stranded OFWs who applied for the Philippine government repatriation program won’t all be repatriated on or before the July 3 deadline of the 90-day grace period,” Migrante vice chairman John Monterona said.

But Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in an interview that government officials were now rushing to complete the lists of the remaining undocumented OFWs, which would be submitted to the Saudi authorities.

‘All-in’ plan

“The understanding among the embassy and labor officials is that part of our bilateral agreement is to ensure that all 10,000 documents (of undocumented OFWs) are already in so that even after July 3 they will continue to be processed,” Baldoz said.

Once the list is submitted to the Saudi government, the OFWs will no longer face possible sanctions, she added.

She said that the Philippine government had tried but failed to secure an extension for the processing period.

“Very politely they said it was so difficult to get an extension because it was no less than the King who would have to act on that,” said Baldoz.

3-month delay

Last April, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered a three-month delay to a crackdown on migrant workers in order to give foreigners in Saudi Arabia a chance to legalize their papers.

The crackdown, which has led to thousands of deportations since it began March 25, is part of labor market reforms aimed at putting more Saudi nationals into private sector jobs.

Since the start of the moratorium last April, the Philippine government had begun repatriating the estimated 10,000 undocumented OFWs in the Philippine outposts in Riyadh and Jeddah.

It also assisted OFWs who legalized their status by securing the necessary visas or by transferring to new employers.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Carmelita Dimzon also noted that many of the undocumented OFWs were still undecided about going home since they were considering finding new jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Strong preference

Baldoz said that despite the Saudization program, Saudi employers still preferred Filipinos for employees.

She said Saudi employers continued to look for Filipino workers despite the Saudi government’s objective to employ more locals in the workforce.

“They are interested in keeping the Filipino workers there. There are many employers submitting job vacancies for sponsored workers so they would be allowed to work again. They need many workers in their megacities, which is a counterpart of our export processing zones,” Baldoz said.