「日刊まにら新聞」ウェブ

Around 9,000 Filipinos who have been stranded in Saudi Arabia for more than a year will have to return to the Philippines, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said late Monday before leaving for the Middle East nation.

If they refuse to go home, Bello said “we will cancel their travel documents. If we do that, they shall eventually be deported.” Unless they can get jobs there, they will stay, he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Bello last week to bring the workers back. “He is very precise. Get them back at any cost. That demonstrates the concern of our President for the plight of our migrant workers,” said Bello .

“It will be a forced repatriation. It will be involuntary repatriation because we cannot afford to let them stay and become burden to the host country,” said Bello .

Bello and a team of labor department officials plus government lawyers are scheduled to hold talks with Saudi employers on August 16. Bello will meet the Filipino community on August 18 before he leaves for Norway to be part of the Philippine government’s negotiating panel with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Norway ,

Forcing stranded Filipino workers to planes is not among the labor department’s options to bring them home, said Bello . Bello said stranded workers can execute a special power of attorney to authorize the Philippine government to collect their claims from their employers.

The 9,000 Filipino workers lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia when oil prices began falling some two years ago.

Bello said the repatriated Filipino workers will be helped by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to get job referrals, financial grants and livelihood training program as part of its reintegration program DMS