Gov’t hit for 'failure' to stop OFW deployment to war-torn countries

MANILA, Philippines - The Middle East chapter of Migrante, an international alliance of Filipino migrant organizations, has assailed the Philippine government for its alleged failure to prevent illegal recruiters from bringing Filipino workers into war-torn countries such as Iraq. “There are close to 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have already died in Iraq and we don’t want to see more OFWs dying in the coming days," said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator. The group criticized the government after the death of 32-year-old Jonasis Saguid in a May 30 explosion in Baghdad. Saguid worked as a cook inside the Green Zone or the International Zone, a 10-square-kilometer heavily guarded diplomatic and government area in central Baghdad. He was convinced by an illegal recruiter to defy the travel ban. He was able to go to Iraq through entering Dubai. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has imposed OFW deployment ban not only in Iraq, but also in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Nigeria. “There are still a considerable number of OFWs in Iraq right now, whose very lives are at stake… The war waged by the Iraqi revolutionary movements against the US military invaders is escalating especially in Basra and Baghdad," Monterona said. Migrante also reiterated its call to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to intensify its drive against recruitment agencies deploying OFWs to war-torn countries. “The imposition of deployment ban by the Arroyo administration through the POEA will not relieve the former of its primary duty of protecting Filipinos working legally or illegally in a foreign land," said Monterona. “Monitoring and prosecuting recruitment agencies violating the ban is the next step that the POEA should do to ensure the safety of Filipinos," he said. - MARK JOSEPH UBALDE, GMANews.TV