RIYADH, 27 January 2003 — Senior diplomats of labor exporting countries have advised their compatriots working in Saudi Arabia not to panic or to leave the country in a hurry because of the possible US-led attack on Iraq. Most embassies except the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said they do not have any evacuation or contingency plans for their nationals as of now.
The diplomats said, however, that the embassies would ensure the safety of their people working in the Kingdom in case of an attack. “Saudi Arabia will extend the fullest possible support for the welfare of our countrymen in the event of a deterioration of the regional situation,” said Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmed, in reply to a question regarding contingency plans on the part of the Indian government in the event of a war.
He appealed to the 1.5 million Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia to remain calm and avoid panic, and advised them to continue to perform their normal duties.
Aamer A. Sadani, deputy chief of the Pakistani mission, said it was too early to work out an evacuation plan.
The Philippine Embassy alone has already developed a contingency plan for its workers living in Middle Eastern countries including the Kingdom. A Mid-east Preparedness Team (MEPT) from the Philippines, sent to the region last week by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, studied the contingency plan for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the light of the looming war. The team, led by special envoy Roy Cimatu, a retired general, explained to the Philippine community here the relocation plan for the OFWs in the event of war in the region.
Asked about the evacuation plan for the Bangladeshi expatriates, Mohammed Zafor, deputy chief at the Bangladesh mission, said “we are looking to the Saudi side and any plan or proposal will be made after receiving feedback from the host country”. He said that there was no cause for panic at a time when the international community in cooperation with the Middle East countries was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“We are watching the situation,” Zafor added. There are one million Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia.
The Philippine Embassy, Zafor said, had made advance plans because of the large number of female workers from the Philippines in the Kingdom and in other Gulf countries. Manila has already allocated 250 million pesos from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to shoulder the cost of the relocation of the Filipino workers in the event of a war.
The Indonesian government, which also supplies large numbers of female domestic helpers, has notified recruitment agencies in the country to temporarily suspend sending workers to the Gulf states.
Another labor exporting country, Sri Lanka, has not made any contingency plan for Sri Lankans working in Saudi Arabia, said Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, adding that “we hope that the Iraq crisis will be solved peacefully”.
However, most of these countries have called on its nationals living in Iraq to leave because of a possible US-led attack.
