RIYADH: Charges against 18 Filipino workers for mingling with unrelated members of the opposite sex and engaging in alleged immoral acts were dropped by the Riyadh police on Monday following intervention by the Philippine government.
This has led to the release of 10 men and two women workers, while four runaway women workers, who have also been absolved of the charges, will be deported since they are not in the country legally.
“The decision to drop the charges came after embassy officials made representations on behalf of the arrested Filipinos,” said Philippine Ambassador Antonio Villamor.
The 18 workers were picked up in a raid conducted by the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice on Aug. 14 and then they were handed over to Oraiza police station, where they were formally arrested on charges of holding a gathering of unrelated men and women and committing unspecified acts of immorality.
Asked why the Riyadh police took a U-turn in the case, Roussel Reyes, vice consul at the Philippine Embassy, said the Saudi police dropped the charges after embassy officials convinced them that those apprehended were members of a legitimate organization and were not involved in any immoral activities.
He said the gathering was part of a rights and welfare assistance program wherein distressed workers are given advice before referring their cases to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh.
Embassy officials also reiterated to Saudi authorities that the Filipinos are members of a non-government organization called Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS), which is recognized by the embassy and whose purpose is to extend assistance to Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia. During their meeting, Saudi prosecutors requested embassy officials convey to Filipino workers that mixed gatherings are not allowed under Saudi law. Saudi officials have made it clear that a repeat of the same incident in the future will be dealt with severely.
Eric Jocson, chairperson of the Saudi chapter of KGS, confirmed the release of the detained people. The group consisted of 10 office bearers of KGS and Migrante International, and eight FiIipino workers, he added.
The report said that there were about 26,000 undocumented and runaway OFWs in the Gulf states including a substantial number of them in Saudi Arabia. Many of them are languishing in jails or deportation centers across the Kingdom.
The KGS, which extends help to Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia, is a member organization of Migrante International. The KGS, which has reportedly set up temporary safe houses for runaway workers with a mission to provide assistance, has been operating in the Kingdom since 1980.
