The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has ordered the suspension of deployment of Filipino workers to Qatar as the latter got embroiled in a diplomatic spat with its neighboring countries.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced the temporary deployment ban in a press conference on Tuesday following the announcements of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen that they are cutting diplomatic relations with Qatar over the latter’s expression of support to terrorist groups, including the Islamic State.
“Even Filipinos with complete paperwork will not be deployed [to Qatar],” Bello said, according to GMA News.
The DOLE secretary could not say how long the suspension of OFW deployment to Qatar will be, but he said it will be up to the Department of Foreign Affairs depending on its assessment of the situation.
Bello said there is no need to repatriate OFWs in Qatar for the time being.
There are 141,000 documented OFWs in Qatar as of 2016, according to DOLE.
photo credit: Sunstar.com
