An illegal tent camp for stranded Filipino workers adjacent to the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah was removed on Tuesday morning by Saudi authorities.

The camp was erected on a vacant plot in the Rehab District on April 11 four days after the declaration of the initial three-month amnesty period for illegals.

Since then, the camp has been a hub for runaway Filipinos — mainly women and infants.

The majority of these workers fled from the Eastern and Central Provinces to Jeddah in order to seek repatriation. The camp initially accommodated over 1,500 workers, but that figure was later reduced.

Philippine Consulate officials have transferred women and infants to shelter houses inside the consulate and others were offered accommodation at other locations.

However, many Filipinos are reluctant to move out of the camp in an apparent attempt to keep up the pressure on the consulate for speedy repatriation.

Stranded OFWs had initially refused to go back to the cities of their origin and insisted on being sent home from Jeddah contrary to local procedures at its deportation centers.

As a result, security authorities removed the tents. According to sources, evacuation began on Monday evening, when stranded Filipinos were removed amid tight security.

A team from Jeddah’s municipality arrived with a bulldozer and other small equipment, backed by trucks to clear the area.

Philippine Consul General Uriel Garibays said: “We have shifted OFWs inside the tents to other shelters. Women and children have been shifted to shelter houses inside the consulate.”