537 Filipinos deported

The Saudi government recently deported 537 Filipinos from the Shumaisi detention facility near Makkah.
In a statement, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said that the Saudi government paid for the flights on Dec. 16 and 17. A total of 91 Filipinos remain at the facility. The workers had failed to correct their status before the Nov. 3 deadline.
Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago thanked the Saudi government for helping the workers go home and praised Philippine Consulate officials for working many hours to process the workers' papers.
On the evening of Dec. 16, 195 women, 59 children and three men, were flown to Manila on board a special Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. On Dec. 17, another 186 women and 94 children, on board another special flight, went home.
During the two-day repatriation, Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay and the staff of the consulate in Jeddah worked until sunset to issue valid documents.
The workers were part of a larger group that surrendered to the Saudi immigration authorities on Nov. 10. The consulate is making arrangements for the remaining 52 women and 39 children to go home.
The embassy did not provide updates on Filipinos living in shelters in Riyadh and the Eastern Province. An estimated 180 people including women and children have been staying at a Riyadh rest house for five months.