Embassies monitoring OFWs in Libya, Saudi, Bahrain

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine embassies in Tripoli (Libya), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), and Manama (Bahrain) are assessing the condition of Filipino workers in these countries where political violence is gradually escalating.

In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday, Philippine Ambassador to Libya Alejandrino Vicente said they have gotten in touch with Filipinos in Benghazi.

She said a Filipino priest in the city assured her that members of the Filipino community there have been advised to stay away from areas of demonstration. 

Soldiers were deployed in Benghazi last Friday after the so-called “Day of Anger” that left nine protesters dead. 

She said none of the 26,000 Filipinos in Libya were affected by the incident.

Protest actions also rattled the major cities of Taiz, Aden and Sanaa in Yemen last Friday.

Charge d’Affaires to Yemen Ezzedi Tago said, however, that Filipinos in these cities were safe.

There are around 1, 400 Filipinos in the country, residing mostly in Sanaa and the port city of Aden.

“Nonetheless, we have advised them to exercise caution and avoid areas of protest,” he said.

The Philippine embassy in Riyadh maintains jurisdiction over Yemen.

In Bahrain, Ambassador Corazon Yap-Bahjin said no Filipinos there were harmed in the demonstrations.  

“We ask our kababayans to remain calm, and avoid areas of protest. We are also in constant contact with the Filipino community leaders in the country,” she said.

Labor group Migrante International, however,

asked the government to prepare evacuation plans for Filipino workers in Bahrain before the political tension there worsens.

Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Leonard Monterona said some 10,000 Bahraini protesters gathered last week at the Pearl roundabout in the capital city of Manama. The protesters have unofficially named the landmark “Nation’s Square.”                                                                                      

“According to reports we have received from fellow OFWs working in Bahrain, protesters have encamped and stayed overnight at the Pearl roundabout, an event that was never seen in Bahrain in the past,” Monterona said. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo