Nearly 7,000 undocumented Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia failed to beat the amnesty deadline that could have repatriated them without penalty.
The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the amnesty program offered starting March 29 has ended.
A total 5,122 undocumented OFWs applied for amnesty and have been repatriated.
According to the DFA, OFWs who failed to voluntarily exit from Saudi would not be jailed for overstaying, but would be “individually repatriated”.
“We have 5,122 that have gone home and some 12,000 registered Filipinos. This means there is a balance of 6,000 plus Filipinos who are still awaiting” repatriation, said Raul Dado, acting executive director of the DFA office of the undersecretary for migrant workers affairs.
Early this year, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello said that most of the undocumented OFWs have experienced maltreatment and abuse from employers and recruiters.
Credit: Wikimedia
