Government helpless against illegal OFW deployment in Iraq

There may be a ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Iraq, but the demand for OFWs in the strife-torn Gulf state and the lure of huge salaries provide OFWs with an incentive to sneak in, special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu said yesterday.

According to Cimatu, offers of a monthly salary of $5,000 (P272,000) for Filipino truck drivers make the entry of undocumented OFWs into Iraq more difficult to prevent.

Cimatu recently returned to the Middle East to assess the effectiveness of the deployment ban and the Philippines’ agreements with other countries not to allow OFWs to cross their borders and enter Iraq. He said there was an increase in undocumented OFWs entering Iraq, especially truck drivers.

He said these truck drivers are employed by companies based in Kuwait, Jordan and other countries near Iraq that supply gasoline, food and the other commodities needed by United States military camps in Iraq.

"I just received information that (these firms) increased the salary of drivers to $5,000," Cimatu told reporters, adding that these companies contract their truck drivers to deliver the goods they sell to Baghdad.

Cimatu said the situation in Iraq is volatile, especially since the Iraqi national elections are scheduled for Dec. 15.

"The situation is very volatile, especially before the Dec. 15 elections," he said. "I anticipate there will be some violence that will happen before, and even during and after, the elections."

Because of the possibility that electoral violence will erupt in Iraq, Cimatu said, "I continue to encourage families here to contact their relatives to take advantage of the voluntary repatriation."

"We are still the most wanted workers (in Iraq)," Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said. "In fact, last week, two foreign employers asked me if it would be possible for the Philippines to lift the ban because they really wanted to have Filipinos as workers."

Sto. Tomas said she told these unnamed foreign employers that the government will not lift the deployment ban until the situation in Iraq improves.

The ban was imposed after Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was abducted by Iraqi insurgents in July last year. De la Cruz was released about a month later, but only after the Philippines pulled out its small military contingent in Iraq.

"I am sure the number of undocumented Filipino workers in Iraq is still increasing and most of them come from Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries near Iraq whose contracts have already expired," Sto. Tomas said.

Despite this strong demand for OFWs, Sto. Tomas said the government will not lift the ban.

"Unless they have a death wish, I advise Filipino workers against going to Iraq," she said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo also said the deployment ban will remain in effect and the government is not inclined to lift it or provide exemptions — even to journalists planning to enter Iraq to cover the elections.

"We have not been remiss on that," Romulo said. "We refuse to lift the ban or give exemption to the media."

He has appealed to the families of OFWs working in Iraq to convince their loved ones to avail of the voluntary repatriation program even as he condemned the recent spate of bombings in Iraq. — Pia Lee-Brago and Mayen Jaymalin