More than 50 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday from Jeddah under the Saudi government’s amnesty program, which ends on Nov. 3, according to a Bandila report. Bandila is an ABS-CBN news program in Tagalog.
“There are 2,000 more left in Jeddah despite the fact that illegal workers will have to have left before or on Nov. 3,” the Bandila report said.
Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay was reported to have said that the consulate would continue to extend assistance to stranded OFWs even after the amnesty deadline by contacting their employers or sponsors.
However, Garibay said that they will have to undergo normal procedures.
Those without residence certificates will pay penalties.
Saudi Deputy Labor Minister Mefreh Al-Haqbani announced on Wednesday that violators would face a SR100,000 penalty and a two-year jail term.
Around 356 stranded OFWs have been repatriated from Tent City in Jeddah so far. Of that total, 186 were men, 134 women and 36 children.
He said that there are about 400 Filipinos still stranded at Tent City. Most of them have been transferred to a new shelter.
“There are those who have transferred to a new villa, but others refused and preferred to wait for their deportation to the Philippines,” Garibay was quoted as saying.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila earlier announced that over 4,000 Filipino workers had been sent home from the Kingdom in the past few months.
Over 50 stranded Filipinos arrive in Manila from Jeddah
