Advisory No. 2011/_____
Date: 07 February 2011
Bayanihan spirit to triumph in Jeddah as Consulate & Filcom
join hands for overstaying runaway OFWs
Shooed away from under Kandara Bridge on the night of 29 January and denied outright admission in the Jawazat deportation center in the morning of 30 January, 131 (fifty six (56) female; sixty five (65) male; and twenty (20) children) overstaying runaway OFWs (overstayers) in Jeddah proceeded to the Consulate to seek assistance in the afternoon of 30 January. Their leaders were met by Officer-in-Charge Consul Leo Tito L. Ausan, Jr., Vice Consul Lorenzo Rhys Jungco, Labatt Vicente Cabe and Weloff Benny Reyes.
In a brief meeting held immediately upon their arrival, their leaders conveyed their urgent demand to be immediately repatriated to the Philippines, or if this cannot be done, that they be assisted in finding a place to stay at in the meantime. After being informed that the chancery doesn’t have enough space to accommodate their large number, the group decided to instead occupy and pitch a tent camp on a vacant lot beside the Consulate. They expressed that this should actually serve their purpose of calling the attention of Saudi authorities on the need to apprehend them and deport them to the Philippines soonest, the very same reason which impelled them to stay under the Kandara Bridge. For its part, the Consulate assured them that vigorous representations will be made with the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jawazat (Passport Directorate) to have them admitted to the Deportation Center (tarhil) soonest. They were also informed that assistance in terms of food and other basic needs shall be provided to them by the Consulate and various Filipino organizations in Jeddah, which have entered into an agreement to join hands for the purpose.
On 02 and 03 February, representations of the Consulate with the Saudi authorities bore fruition with the Jawazat picking up eighty (80) – 20 women, 11 children and 49 men - of the overstayers. In the morning of 05 February, about twenty (20) more women were picked up by Jawazat. It is interesting to note, however, that despite the pick-ups, in a head count conducted in the afternoon of 05 February, there were already 246 overstayers in the camp - 78 men; 105 women; and sixty three (63) children.
On 06 February, the Jawazat came back and picked up about 170 of the overstayers, however, as of this writing, a day later there still are 100 men, 19 women and 30 children in the “tent camp”. Somehow, as the Jawazat pick-ups continue, the overstayers keep on coming from all directions. In fact, many, if not most of them, are from without the area of responsibility of Jeddah.
Faced with this great and continuing challenge to have our overstaying Kabayans repatriated to the Philippines in the soonest possible time, even with limited resources, the Consulate and its attached agencies (POLO-OWWA) have, nevertheless, untiringly liaised with Saudi authorities to keep on picking them up and assisting them in whatever way possible, including the issuance of travel documents. With the unwavering concern and unselfish assistance of many Filipino organizations in Jeddah, Consul Ausan has confidently professed that, “The proverbial “bayanihan spirit” shall eventually triumph in bringing our overstaying Kabayans home soonest!” Somehow, this optimism is well-founded as fifty four (54) of those who were picked up from the camp on 02 and 03 February are set to fly back home tomorrow.