Overstaying OFWs in Saudi face arrest

MANILA, Philippines - More than a thousand overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with expired visas in Saudi Arabia face arrest when authorities resume the crackdown on illegal aliens in two weeks.

Migrante International chairman Garry Martinez said 2,000 OFWs in Riyadh are undergoing processing of their documents, while 1,400 undocumented workers are awaiting repatriation in Jeddah, contrary to the claim of the Department of Foreign Affairs that there are only over a hundred OFWs awaiting repatriation.

“They are making it appear as if the number of stranded OFWs have dwindled significantly to make it appear that they have been doing their job when they have not,” he said.

Martinez said Migrante makes regular head counts to keep track of the conditions and repatriation of OFWs.

As of June 15, Arab News reported 10 percent of undocumented aliens have been cleared to leave, among them at least 4,500 Filipinos, he added.

Quoting Arab News, Martinez said: “The PH Consulate issued over 4,500 travel documents and approximately 2,000 underwent fingerprinting procedures… but none of them has received exit clearances so far.”

However, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the Philippine embassy and labor officials in Saudi Arabia are exerting all efforts to attend to the needs of undocumented Filipino workers.

“I am sure our embassy officials are doing everything for the Filipino workers to obtain exit clearance before the July deadline given by the Saudi government,” he said.

Martinez said the repatriation process remains “painstakingly slow” and stranded OFWs in the Philippine embassy are being forced to shoulder their airfares to expedite their repatriation.