Pinoy 'tent city' outside PHL Consulate in Jeddah dismantled

Undocumented Filipino workers occupying the so-called tent city near the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have been ordered to vacate the area, a report on GMA News TV's "Balita Pilipinas" said Monday.

The report said the owner of the property has complained about the volume of trash left by the Filipinos, who were temporarily seeking refuge while awaiting repatriation following the Saudi government's crackdown on undocumented workers.

The report also said the five-month period given by the land owner to the campers to use the property has elapsed.

Most of the campers have already left the area and settled anew on a nearby land, the report said.

The Philippine Consulate in Jeddah has yet to give a formal statement, but stressed that it is doubling its efforts to repatriate the affected Filipino workers.

Saudi Arabia's crackdown on illegal workers started last March 28 in connection with its “Saudization”—or nitaqat—policy, which encouraged private firms to employ Saudi locals.

After Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah announced a three-month reprieve on April 6, which had ended on July 4, Filipinos flocked to a land near the Philippine Consulate to avoid arrest and to ask for legal assistance.

During the reprieve, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz urged some 20,000 undocumented Filipino workers to legalize their stay there by acquiring residency permits through their employers.

Many of the Filipinos who stayed at the tent city were women who had children with them. Baldoz said they had to pass a stringent series of requirements, including the possession of a marriage contract, as birth out of wedlock under Shariah Law is punishable by death. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News