OFWs storm consulate in Jeddah to seek help

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - More than a hundred “distressed" overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) forced their way into the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah on Monday and Tuesday to seek help in returning to the Philippines. Consul General Ezzedin Tago and other consulate personnel complained that the OFWs almost destroyed the gate to the consulate compound by forcing their way inside early Monday. Joseph Copundan, who stands as a leader of the stranded workers, said they decided to go to the consulate because they have already lost hope of being sent home by local authorities. Most of the workers have been living under an overpass in Jeddah’s Khandara district for the past four months in a futile attempt to get Saudi immigration police into deporting them, Copundan said. It has become a practice of stranded expatriates— Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and Filipinos — to camp out in large numbers under the overpass so that they could be deported at the Saudi government’s expense. (See: 37 Pinoys camp out in Jeddah in bid to get deported]) The supposed advantage of such arrangement is that one need not secure an exit visa, which a runaway worker may not be able to provide as the consent of his or her employer is needed. The perceived lenience of officials in Jeddah has become a magnet for runaways or overstayers based in Riyadh and the eastern cities of Saudi Arabia who wish to go home. Consulate officials have in the past said many runaways were duped by members of syndicates promising them a quick exit through the Jeddah “backdoor." As the latest group of OFWs have found out, however, the quick, backdoor exit is non-existent. Copundan said some of his companions have been staying under the bridge for almost four months now without any clear future, prompting them to seek help from the consulate instead. “Nagdesisyon na kaming lahat na pumunta ng embassy para magkaroon ng aksyon (We decided to go to the embassy so that they would take action)," he said. Unruly Consul General Tago said they were ready to help but complained about the unruly act of the workers. “Hindi maganda ang pinakita nang ating mga kababayan. Tinutulungan naman namin sila pero dapat na ilagay natin sa tamang proseso at hindi ang ganitong klase ng paraan (What they did was not commendable; we would have helped them had they followed the right process)," he said. Tago said that the disturbance caused the diplomatic police at the consulate to increase their number and to rent two buses to bring the workers to the deportation area. Tago also blamed the workers for delaying their own entry into the deportation area at the Jeddah airport, prior to their flight home. He said there were only about 110 OFWs who came to the consulate, but their number swelled to 150 when it was announced that buses were coming to take them to the deportation area. “Apparently some of our kababayans were texting others hiding in the city to join them," he said. On Tuesday, the stranded workers returned to the consulate and demanded that officials do something to end their misery. Tago assured the workers that the consulate is doing everything in its power to help distressed OFWs return home. The workers said they also believe that the consulate could do something if it really tries. They cited the mass repatriation of Filipinos in mid-2007, which started when about 70 OFWs who camped out at the Khandara overpass decided to march to the consulate. At that time, consulate officials were clueless about what to do, but when the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila gave the order to work on the workers’ repatriation, Consul General Pendosina N. Lomondot sought help from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Top Saudi officials not only agreed to grant amnesty to 925 runaways and overstayers but also paid for their plane tickets. Last year, a group of mostly runaways also flocked to the consulate in Jeddah in hopes of getting the same favorable treatment. Many of them ended up being returned to their place of work by immigration officials. - GMANews.TV