Protection sought for Filipino workers near Saudi-Yemen border

MANILA, Philippines – A former labor official appealed to the  Philippine government on Wednesday, August 26, to deploy a rapid response team for distressed Filipino migrant workers in a Saudi Arabian village near the Yemen border, as security becomes volatile due to skirmishes in the neighboring country.

Former Labor Undersecretary Susan “Toots” Ople aired the appeal on behalf of wage and contract workers whom her private organization had direct communication with.

The overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are based in the village of Dhahran Al Janoub, said to be some 13.5 kilometers away from the Saudi-Yemen border.

“It has become difficult for me to work properly,” a worker in the village reportedly told pro-OFW Blas Ople Center.

“The loud explosions are frightening,” said another OFW, who told the policy center at least 3 bombings were heard at around 9 am on Tuesday, August 25.

A Saudi-led coalition had launched a series of air strikes this year on Huthi rebel camps in Yemen.

War planes of an anti-Huthi coalition of Arab states started bombing key areas in Yemen on March 27 in a bid to quell the alleged Iran-backed Shiite rebellion and keep Yemen President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in power.

As early as February 19, the Philippines placed Yemen under Alert Level 4, which means a mandatory pull-out of all Filipino workers there and a deployment ban on new ones.

70 Filipino workers in the village

An emergency shelter and a small embassy team are needed in Dhahran Al Janoub, based on information culled by the Blas Ople Center from Filipinos there who prefer to remain anonymous for their security.

A composite team had been earlier assigned to Yemen to assist Filipino workers in their mandatory repatriation, but some 100 workers preferred to stay. (READ: Fearing job loss, about 100 OFWs stay in strife-torn Yemen)

The spill-over effects of the fighting has affected communities in nearby areas in Saudi, said Ople.

“Huthi rebels have been firing rockets with a range of 15 kilometers across the border, some of which have found its way into the small village of  Dhahran Al Janoub,” she explained.

There are about 70 Filipino medical workers, construction workers, engineers, and mechanics – some with their families – in Dhahran Al Jonob, according to the center’s tally.

The Philippines is a known labor-sending country. Over 10.5 million Filipinos are either temporarily working or permanently residing abroad, according to the 2013 CFO Compendium of Statistics.

While OFWs’ remittances boost the economy, President Benigno Aquino III envisions “a government that creates jobs at home so that working abroad will be a choice rather than a necessity.” – Rappler.com