Distressed OFWs seek shelter under Jeddah bridge, group says

A migrants’ rights group has urged the Philippine post in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to assist some 20 overseas Filipino workers, including children, living under a bridge after running away from their employers. Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the group has been receiving requests for assistance from at least 22 OFWs currently staying in a makeshift shelter under the Khandara flyover in Jeddah. According to Monterona, stranded workers of different nationalities, including Filipinos, frequent the bridge hoping that the local immigration police will apprehend them and eventually have them deported to their respective countries. “Some ‘fixers’, however, have also used it as an opportunity to make money by promising the workers that they’ll arrange for their arrest in exchange for large sums of money," he told GMANews.TV in an interview. The OFWs endure harsh conditions under the bridge, including extreme heat and lack of amenities. Their shelter is also made only from scraps of wood and tin roof, Monterona said. “It’s very much similar to the houses under bridges that we have in the Philippines," he added. According to Monterona, Migrante and another religious group visited the OFWs on May 14 to bring food and other necessities. Last year, Monterona said the number of stranded OFWs seeking refuge under the Khandara bridge surged to 300, forcing the Philippine Overseas Labor Office there to rent a Saudi-owned facility to temporarily accommodate them. Workers have gathered under the overpass in several episodes in 2009, prompting the Saudi government to deport them but their numbers kept increasing. In a separate interview, however, Consul Leo Ausan of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said the last time they checked, there were no Filipinos seeking refuge under the infamous bridge. He explained over 300 distressed OFWs in Jeddah were among the over 600 Filipinos repatriated last April 23. “We also have an arrangement with the Saudi government to allow us to use their facility, the Al-Mina Hajj terminal, as shelter for OFWs while they are waiting for their repatriation," Ausan added. He also warned Filipinos there against lingering in the bridge hoping to be arrested by immigration police, saying they will have to undergo thorough investigation first by Saudi authorities before being deported. Meanwhile, Labor Attache Vicente Cabe said in a separate interview immigration authorities have also been requested to refrain from making arrests in the area to discourage workers from using the bridge as the fastest way to be deported. Cabe added they have yet to receive information on whether or not there are Filipinos still staying under the bridge. “They should not be staying there. They are prone to risk there because violence may erupt anytime, and there are workers of different nationalities also staying there," Cabe said. Ausan said he will nevertheless ask the Philippine post in Jeddah to check on the presence of Filipinos under the flyover. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV