Gov’t speeds up Filipinos’ repatriation from Saudi Arabia

MANILA, Philippines—The government has sent two senior officials to Saudi Arabia to help speed up the processing of exit visas and the repatriation of undocumented Filipinos from the Arab country as the Nov. 3 deadline approaches for irregular immigrants to correct their status.

Jesus Yabes, the foreign undersecretary for migrant affairs, and Parisya Taradji, undersecretary at the Department of Social Welfare and Development, will meet with their counterparts and check on the condition of undocumented Filipinos awaiting either regularization or repatriation, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday.

“They will meet with Saudi social welfare and immigration officials to explore possible solutions to this issue and check on the condition of undocumented Filipinos both in Riyadh and Jeddah,” said Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson.

Saudi Arabia has given undocumented foreign nationals until Nov. 3 to correct their status or return to their home countries as it cracks down on irregular foreign workers in pursuit of its “Saudization” policy, where Saudi nationals are given hiring priority.

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz initially set July 3 as the deadline for immigrant regularization but granted the foreign workers a four-month grace period until November in response to appeals from the foreign governments whose nationals would be affected by the Saudization policy.

Hernandez said the government had repatriated a total 4,302 undocumented Filipinos and issued travel documents to around 9,000 others. Some 1,500 who had signified their intent to return home are waiting to be issued immigration clearances.

Fines and penalties

The DFA, however, could not say how many undocumented Filipinos remained in the Arab country who might fail to correct their immigration status in time for the deadline. Those who miss the regularization deadline face fines and penalties, including detention, Hernandez said.

The Commission on Overseas Filipinos recently released its 2012 stock estimate of Philippine citizens overseas, counting some 1.27 million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, nearly 108,000 of whom were listed as “irregular,” or undocumented.

Hernandez said officials at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah continued to provide assistance to Filipinos racing against the deadline to correct their immigration status.

He said the consulate also recently opened a shelter for undocumented Filipinos who had been encamped outside the chancery since the start of the Saudi crackdown in March. Some 109 individuals—women and their children—had been moved to the 400-capacity shelter, said Hernandez.