A migrant labor expert lamented that Philippine authorities are “not in touch” with the stable COVID-19 situation in Gulf countries — hence many countries here are still excluded in the ‘green list’ travel category issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
“They (Philippine authorities) do not keep in touch with the realities happening in Gulf countries,” migrant expert Emmanuel Geslani told Arab News.
Geslani added: “The low COVID-19 incidence [in Gulf countries] must be seriously studied and considered, so that OFWs, especially those taking just short breaks, who want to go home, do not have to worry about quarantine requirements.”
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Just like Geslani, many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) urge the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to look at countries and territories with higher OFW concentration and lower COVID-19 cases.
In the updated ‘green list’ released by IATF last October 29, no territory in the Middle East, where there’s a huge number of Filipino workers, was included. The list was set effective from November 1 to 15.
An expat quoted by the Arab News report said: “I would like to know the Philippines’ basis why the UAE and other Gulf countries remain on the yellow list, considering these countries have some of the highest vaccination rates already.”
“Bakit yellow list pa rin ang UAE? Nasa below [100] cases na lang daily dito at almost fully vaccinated na lahat,” one OFW said in a comment to a The Filipino Times story.
READ ON: IATF may consider putting UAE under ‘green list’, says DOLE
Since the UAE and other countries in the GCC remain in the “yellow list”, Filipino workers who want to enter the Philippines still have to undergo facility-based quarantine.
OFWs have been urging the Philippine government to place the UAE under the “green list” category with continued dip in its COVID-19 cases.
On Monday, November 1, the UAE reported only 78 new coronavirus cases. There was also no COVID-19-related death recorded on that day.
Recently, the UAE placed 3rd ‘best countries to be in’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest Bloomberg COVID-19 resilience ranking.
