Take Oman’s amnesty offer, DOLE urges undocumented OFWs

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) urged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) staying illegally in Oman to take advantage of the Oman Sultanate’s 3-month offer of amnesty as a means of either finding a way back to the Philippines without being deported or to correct their stay in the country.

Secretary of Labor and Employment Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz cited a report from Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa, which called the amnesty offer part of the country’s efforts to regulate the foreign worker presence in the country.

The amnesty offer, which lasts from April 1 to June 30, stipulates the following in the amnesty guidelines:

• Registration of Filipino nationals shall be at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).
• All required documents of overseas Filipino workers who want to avail of the amnesty program shall be prepared by the POLO which will endorse it to the Oman Ministry of Manpower.
• Employers/sponsors of workers staying in the country illegally will also be asked to comment in writing amnesty applications. If employers/sponsors fail to comply, the worker will be repatriated.
• Penalty for overstaying and money claims of employers’ expenses during the deployment of workers will be waived.
• All applicants will need to have themselves finger printed, except children aged 18 years and below.
• Applicants whose documents were received by the Oman Ministry of Manpower must leave the Sultanate within one month.

“This amnesty will also help foreign workers who are willing to stay and work in Oman, but subject to the guidelines under the labor law promulgated by the Sultanate’s Royal Decree 35/2003,” Mustafa added in the report.

“A small drawback of the amnesty program is that repatriated workers under the amnesty program cannot return to Oman within three years from the time they were repatriated,” he added. – Rappler.com