"We have received text messages from the 48 OFWs saying that they have been kept in prison three to six months after their sentences expired,” John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East coordinator, told Arab News on Tuesday.

“Others claimed that they were still in jail one year after they had finished their sentences.”

Monterona said on Feb. 11, various chapters of Migrante in Saudi Arabia formally launched the campaign with the slogan “Release and send home jailed OFWs whose sentences have been completed.”

He said that Migrante started sending messages to all concerned Philippine government agencies, including the office of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has been designated as presidential adviser on OFW concerns.

Monterona added that the 48 OFWs also asked their families and relatives in the Philippines to form their own lobby groups to help the campaign for their release and repatriation.

"The jailed OFWs sent the names and contact numbers of their relatives in the Philippines to Migrante to help them form a lobby group to liaise with concerned government agencies and to seek help from President Benigno Aquino," Monterona said.

He urged the Philippine government to seriously work for their release and repatriation.