Philippines labor office ‘forced to move from diplomatic quarter

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh (POLO-Riyadh) has allegedly been forced to move from its office in the plush Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh because of violent incidents that had taken place there during last year’s labor correction campaign.
The Philippine Embassy announced recently that the office would be moved to the West Umul Hamam District. It did not provide an explanation, but a source told Arab News that POLO-Riyadh was ordered to leave the building it was renting inside the Diplomatic Quarter.
The reason for the decision were the “untoward incidents during the crackdown on illegal foreign workers launched by the Kingdom in April 2013,” he said.
This occurred when a group of undocumented Filipinos went to the POLO-Riyadh office regarding their cases. “They were afraid about their illegal status and sought help but nobody would attend to them. Violence followed. They eventually went to the embassy and camped out inside its premises,” he said.
The incidents took place before the arrival of Labor Attaché Rustico S.M. Dela Fuente. Adam A. Musa, the labor attaché at the time, had been recalled to the home office in connection with a Senate investigation into a sex scandal involving his driver.
The source said that the embassy officials had called the police when they could not get the workers to leave the building.
There were also attempts made to stop workers from bringing food onto the premises. “This was because the embassy was already providing them with food and other needs,” he added.
He said that at one time a Diplomatic Quarter police officer had clashed with a Filipino who had thrown a bag of food over the embassy fence for the illegal workers camping inside.
There had been several complaints by other residents inside the Diplomatic Quarter about the violence, he said.