DEPLOYMENT BAN The Philippine government has stopped sending overseas Filipino workers to the following countries due to hostilities and conflicts: • Afghanistan A total ban took effect in 2007. • Iraq OFWs were prohibited from going to Iraq in 2004 after a series of suicide bomb attacks and the abduction of Filipino truck driver Angelo Dela Cruz. • Jordan Reports of widespread abuse against Filipino domestic workers prompted the government to stop sending OFWs to Jordan since January 2008. • Lebanon Following the Israel-Hezbollah conflict of 2006 that resulted in the evacuation of some 6,000 Filipinos from Lebanon, the Philippine government stopped Filipino workers from entering the conflict-ridden country. • Nigeria The Philippines stopped sending workers to oil-rich Nigeria in December 2007 due to kidnappings and civil unrest in the Niger Delta. Despite the ban on these countries, thousands of Filipinos desperate for work continue to sneak into these conflict areas using fake documents. - GMANews.TV MANILA, Philippines - Eleven Filipino workers bound for Afghanistan were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport this week, Vice President Noli De Castro said Thursday. De Castro said the workers were intercepted by the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair) before they could fly to Afghanistan. The Philippine government banned deployment of Filipino workers to Afghanistan in 2007 for security reasons. “The government promotes overseas employment but it has to stop workers from going to foreign lands where their safety is at risk," said the vice president, who is also presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers. He said the workers were supposed to work as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians in Kandahar Airfield, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base in Afghanistan. The workers were reportedly promised $1,300 or more than P62,000 as monthly pay. De Castro said he has already ordered the Tfair to investigate those who recruited the workers. The Tfair said the travel documents of the workers were “facilitated" by a certain Faisal Ahmad Muhammad Alamri. Alamri reportedly owns Sara Tourism and Cargo, a travel and tours firm in Dubai where the workers were supposed to land first before proceeding to the Kandahar Airfield. The task force found out that once the workers reached Dubai, they would be met by people who are to assist their entry to Afghanistan. Included in those who were brought to the Tfair office in Camp Crame for investigation were Roger Valentino Acedera, Darwin Amadeo Laudo, Angelito Rosales Aala, Benigno Rivera Andaya, Rodrigo Cabansod Angla, Noel Sayson Baynosa, Francisco Jude Norial, Erwin Velez Angala, Godofredo Ducas Monteroyo, Nelson Julia Savarino, and Juanito Cortes Atienza. Despite the ban, many Filipinos continue to work with international aid organizations in the conflict-ridden country. Afghanistan is a landlocked country located in the heart of Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east; Iran in the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north; and China in the far northeast.
- Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV 
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