“We approached POLO for help on Tuesday because the new owner of the company had asked the 13 Filipinos to vacate their (employer-provided) accommodations, saying that it will be occupied by new staff,” Eric Jocson, KGS chairperson, told Arab News on Thursday.
Jocson said that POLO officials said they would ask the previous company owner, Saeed bin Salman, to intercede on behalf of the workers.
“He said he had asked the new owner to give the 13 Filipinos seven days to find a place where they could stay. However, the new owner of the company did not agree, and he asked them to vacate the place,” he said.
The KGS will meet the Filipinos in Sulay district in Riyadh on Friday to discuss where they could stay.
“There are quarters where they could stay temporarily. These belong to another company. However, this does not solve their problem,” he said.
Jocson said that the previous employer had abandoned them.
“Assuming that he agrees to send them home, the iqamas of some of these workers have expired, and there has been no move to renew them,” he said.
The advocacy group Migrante Middle East, an affiliate of KGS, said that the Filipino workers had already filed a case with a Saudi labor court against their employer who appeared at the past two hearings.
“The third hearing will be on Sunday, and if the previous employer won’t appear again, Migrante and KGS will urge POLO to request the court to summon him and ask him to settle his obligations to the 13 workers who are now virtually stranded,” said John Leonard Monterona of Migrante Middle East.
