About 300 Filipinos were allowed to fly to Qatar on Wednesday to return to their jobs or start their new jobs as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) lifted the suspension of deployment to the Gulf state.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced the lifting of the deployment ban a day after ordering it in response to the diplomatic crisis in the region.
Bello said returning workers or balik-manggagawa and newly-hired workers with Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) were allowed to fly to Qatar.
Newly-hired OFWs whose OECs are still being processed are not allowed to go to Qatar until their documentation is completed.
The decision to lift the suspension followed DOLE’s receipt of reports from the Philippine labor attache in Doha and Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Alan Timbayan, and a note from Foreign Affairs Sec. Alan Peter Cayetano stating that the situation in Qatar is normal.
Qatari authorities also requested the Philippine government to lift the suspension of deployment of workers assuring Manila the safety of Filipinos in the emirate.
The DOLE suspended the deployment of Filipino workers to Qatar on Tuesday, a day after the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt cut diplomatic relations with Qatar and closed their borders with their Gulf neighbor. The diplomatic crisis was triggered by Doha’s alleged support for terrorist groups and Iran.
photo credit: Qatarday.com
