Stranded in Saudi: Female OFWs with kids seek RP post’s help

At least 10 female overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and their 11 children have been staying in the Philippine Embassy-run shelter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for about 10 months now, with some staying for more than three years, according to a migrants’ rights group.

In its letter to the Embassy, Migrante – Middle East sought assistance for the OFWs stranded in the Embassy’s Bahay Kalinga, and inquired about the reason for the “delayed repatriation" of the workers.

The stranded OFWs have at the shelter with them their children, including a five-month-old baby girl.

Migrante regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the stranded OFWs got in touch with the migrants’ rights group through a text message coursed via its member-organization Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan.

“Sir, nakikiusap po kami sa inyo na tulungan niyo po kami sa mas madaling panahon dahil matagal na po kami rito. Baka kayo po ang tulay para tutukan ni Amba ang kaso namin," Monterona quoted the workers as saying in their message.

(Sir, please help us as soon as possible as we have been staying here for too long now. Hopefully, your group could serve as link for the Ambassador to act on our case.)

“When the request for assistance was relayed to me, I was not surprised at all since there are indeed still a considerable number of stranded OFWs inside the Bahay Kalinga, but what surprised us is that the OFWs have children," Monterona said.

In a separate interview, Labor Attache Alberto Valenciano confirmed there are women OFWs staying in the shelter who have been there for as long as three years.

He, however, refused to give more details, saying these workers’ case is “sensitive".

“We are trying to work for their repatriation as discreetly as possible," Valenciano said.

He added the documents for the repatriation of at least nine of the ten workers are already pending before the Riyadh Governor’s office awaiting action.

The schedule of their repatriation is likewise dependent on how soon the Governor will act on the Embassy’s request. Valenciano is unable to say when the workers could be sent home.

“The government is of course ready to assist them; it’s just that some of the workers do not have the necessary papers," he explained, adding that majority of the workers escaped from their employees due to contract violations and abuse.

Currently, there are 142 adult OFWs and 11 children inside Bahay Kalinga, according to Valencia.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration earlier said some 800 OFWs are still stranded in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, but the agency vowed to send all of them home under the government’s accelerated repatriation program. (See: Some 800 Filipinos still stranded in Jeddah — OWWA) —Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV


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