THE Department of Labor and Employment has urged thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia to avail themselves of the 90-day amnesty program offered by the Saudi government, as the Philippine government prepares to repatriate at least 5,000 undocumented OFWs this week.
The amnesty will cover undocumented and overstaying foreign individuals of Umrah, Hajj and visit visa holders; OFWs with expired iqamas (residence permits), or have never been issued an iqama; huroob cases or those who escaped from their employers; and OFWs who were abandoned by their employers, including their dependents.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that more OFWs want to go home but feared they might be arrested and have no idea how to apply for amnesty.
Bello said he had sent a repatriation team to KSA to assess the situation/condition of the workers to make sure their repatriation would be processed smoothly.
“The applications of OFWs for amnesty will be processed free of penalties, and will be given exit permits and issued with exemption in acquiring certificate of no objection from their employers,” he said.
They will also be exempted from the usual “deportee fingerprint system” and will be able to return to the kingdom legally, Silvestre said.
The Labor chief designated Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say, also the current officer-in-charge of the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency as head of the repatriation team.
The Philippine government will pay for the plane tickets of the OFWs, he said.
The DoLE, POEA, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Bureau of Local Employment will provide livelihood assistance for the repatriated OFWs.
