DOLE to offer job opportunities for repatriated OFWs from Libya
MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) repatriated from Libya may get job opportunities in other countries, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Monday.
“‘Yung karamihan sa OFWs sa Libya ay mga nurses and medical workers. Maaaring sila mapadala natin sa Japan and Germany kasi Germany is in need of nurses,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said at a press conference on Monday.
(Most OFWs in Libya are nurses and medical workers. We can send them to Japan and Germany because Germany needs nurses.)
Bello said there are 345,000 career opportunities, including caregivers and medical workers, open for Filipinos in Japan.
“Sa Japan, dito yung big chunk of overseas opportunities because Japan needs 345,000 workers belonging to 14 industries,” Bello said.
“Pinakamarami diyan caregivers, medical workers and agriculture workers (There are also opportunities for caregivers, medical workers, and agriculture workers),” he added.
Bello said they signed a bilateral agreement last March 19 with their Japanese counterparts to accommodate Filipinos in Japan.
‘Forced repatriation’
Bello also said that the alert in Libya could be raised to Level IV, which means forced evacuation.
“There is a meeting [between] the DFA and our people to assess the situation in Libya. It is possible that the Alert Level III will be upgraded to Level IV, which means there will be forced repatriation,” he said.
Earlier, it was announced that four more OFWs will return to Manila due to the continued tension in Libya.
Some areas in the country are currently under Alert Level III, which means “voluntary repatriation” phase. Under this alert level, Filipino workers in Libya who are currently in the Philippines will not be allowed to travel back to the country “until the situation in the country stabilizes, and the alert level is lowered back to II.” /ee
READ: More Filipinos in strife-torn Libya heading home
