OFWs in Libya ignore last call

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos remaining in Libya have ignored the government’s last call for them to leave their jobs and return home.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said only a few of the estimated 3,500 Filipino still in Libya have responded to the government’s last call for repatriation.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said less than a hundred have signified their intention to return home.

Cruz said the government has transported 23 Filipinos from Tripoli to Djerba, Tunisia, and about 50 others were expected to leave Tripoli last night.

Jaime Jimenez, DOLE’s Middle East Task Force official, said the embassy and labor officials are using backroads to transport Filipinos from Libya to avoid checkpoints.

Philippine embassy officials and staff in Tripoli will not leave their posts despite the air strikes against Libya, Malacañang said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said the government is focused on taking care of and ensuring the safety of the remaining Filipinos in Libya.

Some Filipinos, specifically those working in government hospitals, were offered double pay, as well as hazard pay to remain in Libya, she added.

Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario proceeded on Monday to Djerba, Tunisia from Yemen to coordinate government efforts to evacuate the remaining Filipino workers in Libya.

The government has also conducted a survey of Filipinos in Yemen who wish to be repatriated.

The government has asked Libya to let four Filipinas working as maids for a relative of leader Moammar Gadhafi to leave the country.

Enrico Fos, special aide for migrant workers at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the four called up their relatives to get the government to negotiate their release from work contracts.

“We are also engaged in diplomatic channels and have conveyed our countrymen’s request to the Gadhafi government,” he said.

The maids work for a nephew of Ghadafi, Fos said.

The European Union (EU) has facilitated the repatriation of 393 Filipinos from Libya.

Ambassador Guy Ledoux, EU head of delegation, said since March 6 the EU has provided 3 million euros to the International Organization for Migration to assist nationals of third countries fleeing Libya.

Assistance was provided for the repatriation of 393 Filipinos from Libya, he added.

Ledoux said after escaping from Libya, the Filipinos passed through the evacuation points in Cairo, Egypt, Malta and Tunisia.

“This assistance is part of the European Union’s commitment to provide emergency assistance and relief to the victims of armed conflict outside the European Union,” he said. –– with Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano, Pia Lee-Brago