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Pinoy Abroad

DFA wants better conditions in Saudi deportation centers


The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday vowed to work closer with the authorities from Saudi Arabia to improve conditions in deportation centers in the Middle Eastern country. A team from the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah will be visiting the deportation centers on Saturday (Manila time) to check on the conditions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who stay in the facility while waiting for their exit clearances, the DFA said in a statement posted on its website. “The Consulate General continues to monitor the status of Filipinos at the deportation center on almost a daily basis to ensure their timely departure upon completion of the investigations by the Saudi authorities," Consul General Ezzedin Tago said in the statement. Overstaying OFWs in Saudi Arabia and those who leave their employers before their contracts expire are required under local immigration regulations to be confined in deportation centers pending their repatriation. Tago is also scheduled to meet with the Head of the Deportation Department in Jeddah in the coming days to discuss improving the living conditions of OFWs in deportation centers, according to the DFA. Deportation centers in Saudi Arabia are reported to be overcrowded with OFWs awaiting repatriation. Last year, an OFW was reported to have died in a deportation facility while waiting to be brought back to the Philippines. (See video: Filipino dies while waiting in deportation center, Migrante says) Due to this, the DFA has also directed the Consulate General and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to continuously work for the early repatriation of OFWs in deportation facilities to avoid overcrowding in these Saudi-operated centers.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV

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