More Saudi OFWs to camp out near Phl consul office

MANILA, Philippines - More stranded and undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia are expected to camp out beside the Philippine Consulate building in Jeddah to ask to be repatriated, a migrant workers' rights group said on Friday.

Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Monterona cited that around 7,000 OFWs have already signed up for repatriation since the last quarter of 2012.

"There were 7,000 stranded OFWs listed up at the Philippine Consulate as they seek to avail the repatriation program, but only to be told that it was temporarily stopped," Monterona added.

Monterona said that based on their dialogue with Philippine Consulate officials, the numbers of those who are seeking repatriation have surged to 12,000.

"So, we are projecting that more and more stranded OFWs will join the camp-out near the Philippine Consulate building in Jeddah. It may reach 800 to 1,200 or could be even more," he said.

The stranded OFWs camped out beside the Philippine Consulate days after the Saudi government temporarily stopped the crackdown on illegal and overstaying foreigners in the oil-rich Kingdom.

Migrante, meanwhile, renewed its call to President Benigno Aquino III to immediately order the revival of the government's repatriation program to bring back these OFWs and reunite them with their families in the Philippines.