RIYADH, 25 December 2003 — A regional organization of overseas Filipino workers called KGS (The Brotherhood of Filipinos in the Middle East) said about 300 Filipino workers, including the 16 OFWs who were picked up and released by the police from the Philippine Embassy on Sunday night, are currently stranded in the Kingdom.
Richard Bautista, KGS chairman, told Arab News yesterday that his organization was seeking support from the embassy and leaders of the community as well as other organizations to help alleviate the suffering of the stranded workers.
He said the Philippine Embassy should intensify efforts to solve the problems of runaway workers and at the same time instill a spirit of cooperation and compassion among its staff.
The KGS, which is campaigning to help stranded workers, said that more than 70 people are stranded in Riyadh alone. This is in addition to a large number of female workers, who are now living at an embassy-run shelter with no access to community leaders.
In a statement, the Philippine Embassy said, the 16 workers “were misled by the strike planners and their leaders.” It has also clarified that the 16 OFWs, who occupied the chancery lobby for eight days, were neither arrested nor detained.
“The embassy has issued this denial in view of a malicious misinformation campaign launched by a certain group against the embassy’s handling of the so-called hunger strike,” it added.
The embassy said that the decision to escort the workers to the Shumaysi Central Hospital with the help of the police for medical checkup was made on humanitarian grounds.
The embassy has also denied that it hired thugs to harm the group of 16 workers who were seeking early repatriation. The embassy has also announced that it will not give permission to any individual or organization to hold any sort of social or cultural program inside the chancery because of increasing security concerns.
The embassy, however, will continue to assess the security situation and will inform the community accordingly.
