Stay away from protests, DFA tells Pinoys in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain

Philippine officials in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain said that the Filipino communities there remain safe amid protest actions there, even as the officials advised Filipinos to take precautions and stay away from protests. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Philippine embassies in Tripoli (in Libya), Riyadh (which covers Yemen) and Manama (in Bahrain) reported that they are in close touch with Filipinos in the said Middle East countries. "[In Libya], the Embassy has coordinated with the Filipinos in Benghazi, including a Filipino priest, who said that they are taking the necessary precautions in light of events there," Philippine Ambassador to Libya Alejandrino Vicente said in a DFA release on Saturday. “They have advised the other community members to stay calm and to avoid areas in trouble," Vicente added. Soldiers were deployed on the streets of Libya's major city of Benghazi on Friday after a "day of anger" against the government. None of the some 26,000 Filipinos there were affected during the incident, the DFA said. In Yemen, Philippine Charge d'Affaires Ezzedin Tago reported that the Embassy is in contact on a daily basis with the Filipino community leaders in Sanaa and they are relatively safe. "Nonetheless, we have advised them to exercise caution and avoid areas of protest," Tago said in the same release. There are about 1,400 Filipinos in Yemen, mostly concentrated in Sanaa and the port city of Aden, the DFA said. Protest actions rattled Yemen's major cities of Taiz, Aden and Sanaa on Friday "The Filipinos are safe where they are, as long as they exercise caution. Violence is only limited to certain portions of the country," Tago added. In Bahrain, meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador Corazon Yap-Bahjin said the Embassy released an advisory to Filipinos in the country, advising them to remain calm, stay indoors, and avoid any areas of protest. "While there have been no reports of any Filipino harmed during the protest actions, we ask our kababayans [compatriots] to remain calm, and avoid areas of protest. We are also in constant contact with the Filipino community leaders in the country," she said. There are around 31,000 Filipinos in Bahrain. Bahraini troops forcibly removed a protest camp was forcibly removed in the capital, Manama on Friday. Fifty were reported injured. Filipino migrants’ rights advocacy group Migrant-Middle East earlier asked the government to start drawing up plans to evacuate Filipinos in Bahrain, similar to what it did for those in Egypt, in case the protests turn violent. (See: Govt asked to set evacuation plans for Pinoys in Bahrain) The government, however, had said the circumstances in that Middle East country do not warrant any evacuation yet, and that it would just await the advice of the Embassy there. (See: Palace: No need to evacuate Pinoys in Bahrain)—With Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMA News