OFW deployment to 9 countries suspended

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino workers are temporarily barred from going to nine countries identified as “non compliant” or unsafe.

The suspension of deployment to Afghanistan, Chad, Cuba, Haiti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia and Zimbabwe will take effect immediately, according to administrator Hans Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

“All POEA operating units are hereby directed to temporarily hold the processing of documents of workers bound for the identified non-compliant countries,” he said.

The Commission on Audit (COA) recommended to the POEA the temporary suspension of deployment to non-compliant countries.

At present, 194 countries are certified as compliant to the provisions of the Amended Migrant Workers Act.

Under that law, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and POEA can only allow deployment to countries certified by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as safe and eligible to provide protection for Filipino workers.

It also requires the forging of bilateral agreements between the Philippines and the host countries to ensure better working conditions for OFWs.     

The POEA has lifted the ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Sierra Leone.