Repatriation of Filipinos under king’s order begins

JEDDAH/RIYADH: The repatriation of Filipino workers of Saudi Oger under an aid plan announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has begun, with 28 flying home Saturday and 39 on Sunday.
The exit papers of more than 200 others were being processed, said Labor Attaché Jainal Rasul, head of the Philippine Consulate’s labor office. Rasull said the plane tickets of workers currently being repatriated are charged to a SR100 million fund created by the Saudi government to address the concerns of workers who have not received their salaries for months from government contractors such as Saudi Oger and Saudi Binladin Group.
Last month, 201 workers of Saudi Oger and and 168 of Binladin were sent home, but their plane tickets were provided by the Philippine government. More than 4,100 workers of the two companies have also received financial assistance from a fund released by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Redentor M. Bual, an officer of the Jeddah-based Overseas Council of Leaders (OCL), who provided the figures, said the workers covered so far were all from the western region of Saudi Arabia.
Various Filipino community groups spearheaded by the OCL have been contributing food and other basic needs for thousands of stranded workers. Thousands more were expected to apply for coverage of the fund after an interagency mission headed by Consul General Mohammed Noordin Lomondot recommended that workers from other companies that have suffered the same fate as the two construction titans should also be included, Bual said.
The Filipino workers of Saudi Oger are among more than 30,000 employees left unpaid by the Lebanese-owned company since last year. Hundreds of Pakistanis and Indian workers of Saudi Oger also started flying home last week courtesy of the Saudi government.
Aside from exit visas and plane tickets for stranded workers who wish to go home, the aid program also provides food, medical assistance, and assists those who wish to transfer to another employer in the Kingdom.
The Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development has also been tasked to help workers in filing court claims against their employers. Workers who opted to go home immediately were allowed to authorize their embassies to receive their claims for them.
Binladin has stated paying the back wages of its workers but Saudi Oger has still not done so, according to its workers.
The Philippine Embassy on Thursday expressed its thanks to the Kingdom for extending assistance in the repatriation of its citizens. “We thank the Saudi government for helping the embassy facilitate the distressed OFWs’ repatriation,” Consul General Iric C. Arribas told Arab News. He expressed his hope that all distressed OFWs will be repatriated and their financial claims settled as they rejoin their families in the Philippines.
He added that as of Sept. 29, a total of 1,326 OFWs from various parts of the Kingdom had left for the Philippines through the combined efforts of the Philippine and Saudi governments.
He added that the distressed OFWs were given two options, adding that they were asked to choose between repatriation and stay and transfer to other local firms.
Arribas said that of the total number of distressed OFWs, 2,041 expressed their desire to go home. Of the total number, 1,608 were from Saudi Oger; 249 from Saudi Binladin; six from MMG; and 178 from other companies.