The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) listed 24 countries where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployment for 2018 is prohibited.
As stated on POEA Advisory 21, series of 2017, these countries are off-limits for OFWs due to their unstable safety and economic situations, and their failure to attain a certification from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Afghanistan; Somalia; Sudan (except Khartoum and the Kenana Sugar Plantation in the White Nile); Great Lakes Region (Rwanda and Burundi); Syria; Yemen; Iraq; and the Chechnya Republic are restricted countries due to their unstable peace and order.
A total deployment ban in these countries also covers all skills categories and applies to both new hires and rehires.
Listed as having unstable peace and order, South Sudan; Libya; and Ukraine, have an existing partial deployment ban. This means that new hires or first-time workers are banned from these countries, but rehires or returning workers are allowed.
Palau is also under deployment ban for House Service Workers (HSW) due to the country’s economic situations and work condition.
Lastly, POEA Advisory 21 also listed 12 countries which were not given certifications by the DFA as compliant to Republic Act 10022 or the Amended Migrant Workers Act.
RA 10022 states that deployment is allowed only for employers operating for international organizations. Hence, POEA cannot deploy OFWs to countries without any DFA certification.
Countries that are not certified by the DFA are as follows:
- Afghanistan
- Chad
- Cuba
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea/North Korea
- Haiti
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Palestine
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Zimbabwe
