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Afghanistan-bound OFWs warned of risks


Countries that have been declared off-limits to OFWs
Afghanistan A total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in Afghanistan 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 abuses against Filipino workers prompted the government to stop sending OFWs there in January 2008. Lebanon Following the war between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in 2006, Filipino workers were barred from entering Lebanon in June 2007. Nigeria Deployment ban in this country was implemented in December 2007 due to kidnappings and civil unrest in the Niger Delta. Several OFWs have protested the imposition of the deployment ban on these countries. But some workers sneak into these conflict areas using fake documents.- GMANews.TV
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque warned Filipino workers aspiring for employment in Afghanistan of the grave dangers involved, citing the case of 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who perished in a helicopter crash last week. While assuring families of the crash victims of humanitarian aid from the government, Roque said the deployment ban to the troubled central Asian country remains in effect. "We thus warn OFWs against defying the ban to their own disadvantage and peril, at the same time that we urge them to seek and avail of the legitimate opportunities available to our overseas workers, through the POEA and licensed recruitment agencies, in more than 190 host destinations worldwide," he said in an article posted on the Labor Department website (www.dole.gov.ph). Roque said the ban took effect after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) recommended it on Dec. 17, 2007. The total ban covers the processing and deployment of Filipino workers not only for Afghanistan but also for Nigeria. A similar total ban is in effect on the processing and deployment of Filipino workers bound for Iraq and Lebanon. In pushing forthe ban, the POEA emphasized that the peace and order situation in these countries continue to remain unstable. "There is a need to ensure the continued security and safety of our OFWs by suspending the processing and deployment of Filipino workers bound (for) these countries," it added. Roque said the issuance of the ban was consistent with the provision of Section 5 of Republic Act No. 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, which "authorizes the government... when the public welfare so requires, to at any point impose a ban on the deployment of migrant workers." On the other hand, Roque assured that the "utmost humanitarian assistance possible will be extended to the families of the 10 Filipino workers who unfortunately perished in a helicopter crash in that country." He said such assistance shall be in consonance with the one-country team efforts of the Philippine government for the OFWs and migrant workers, particularly to ensure the expedient repatriation of the bodies of the victims in Afghanistan, along with other necessary responses. A DFA report has said that the 10 OFWs were among 16 out of 21 people aboard a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter who died when the aircraft slammed into the tarmac at Kandahar Air Base shortly after takeoff at NATO's largest air base in Afghanistan. The DFA said the 10 were employees of US-based construction firm The AIM Group, Inc. A US-based firm in the construction sector had reportedly stood up for its responsibility for the 10 migrants who had entered Afghanistan despite the government ban against of the deployment of OFWs in the strife-torn area. It reportedly assured insurance and other benefits for the 10 crash victims, while assisting in the government-coordinated efforts to repatriate their bodies to the Philippines. Roque said that while the Philippine mission in Afghanistan is on top of the repatriation efforts, proximate Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in the Middle East, as appropriate, will extend the necessary assistance to the efforts. - GMANews.TV
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