DOLE lifts Qatar deployment ban
FILE - In this Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 file photo, a traditional dhow floats in the Corniche Bay of Doha, Qatar, with tall buildings of the financial district in the background. Qatar says it has pulled all of its troops from the border of Djibouti and Eritrea, East African nations that have a long-running territorial dispute which Doha had helped mediate. AP/Saurabh Das, File
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday lifted the moratorium on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Qatar.
On June 7, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued the deployment suspension after Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain, and Egypt, severed ties and closed their borders with Qatar for supposedly supporting terrorist groups.
Bello lifted the deployment ban after getting information that the situation in Qatar has returned to normal.
"Our labor attaché in Qatar came up with an assessment that situation in Qatar is normalized and it would be safe to already deploy our OFWs," Bello said in a telephone interview with ANC.
The Philippine Embassy in Doha earlier called on Filipinos to remain calm and exercise prudence as they monitor the situation.
About 260,000 Filipinos are living in Qatar as of January 2017, according to Qatar-based journalist Priya Dsouza. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
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