OFWs caught in Kazakh riots

Some Filipinos working at an oil drilling site reportedly got caught in the riot among workers in Kazakhstan, although the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has maintained no one was hurt.

In a radio interview yesterday, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Onil Landicho said some of his co-workers were harmed in one of the confrontations between Kazak and Turkish workers in the compound run by US-based construction firm Bechtel in Tengiz, western Kazakhstan. He did not elaborate.

Landicho however claimed they are living in fear and want to come home.

"Kinakatok nila ang pinto namin sa gabi… babatukan kami. Di na lang kami lalaban kasi marami sila, kukuyugin kami (They knock on our doors at night... and they would hit our napes. We don’t fight them because they are too many and might gang up on us)," Landicho told dzBB radio.

Some of the OFWs, he said, have lost money and cell phones to foreign workers, most of whom have sided with the Turkish laborers.

"Gusto naming umuwi lahat (We all want to go home)," Landicho said.

Acting DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said in a radio interview that they have yet to verify reports that some of the Filipinos are being hurt or threatened because Turkish workers accuse them of taking sides.

"Our consul general Agnes Cervantes talked to some of the Filipino workers there. She was told they were safe and secure," Malaya said of the report, which was also received by Sen. Richard Gordon.

Malaya said some of the Filipino workers have actually opted to stay there despite the recent violent clash over differences in pay and benefits.

There are around 600 Filipinos in the oil drilling project. They work as electricians, pipe fitters, welders and in other construction and technical jobs.

The drilling site is a project by Bechtel and the Turkish firm Enka. Apart from Filipinos, Indians also work at the site.

Malaya said about 447 Filipinos have been moved to a safer part of the compound after the violent clash erupted Friday.

The riot has reportedly left at least 40 people dead and many more injured.

But company officials and Kazak authorities yesterday denied there were fatalities.

"At present, one person, a Turkish citizen, was hospitalized (and) is in stable condition… I absolutely deny rumors about deaths," Kazak foreign ministry spokesman Ilyas Omarov said.

"There were no deaths whatsoever at Tengiz as a result of this clash," Omarov told AFP.

A spokesman for Tengizchevroil, the joint venture, echoed that denial.

"There were no fatalities," the Tengizchevroil spokesman said, requesting anonymity.

Hundreds of people were involved in Friday’s unrest, in which "construction offices, vehicles and other facilities were damaged," according to a statement from Tengizchevroil.

Gordon has called on the labor department to pull out Filipinos working in Kazakhstan because of the alleged harassment against them.

In a text message to Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, which was forwarded to the media yesterday, Gordon said he has been in touch with a number of Filipinos working in the riot area who have sought his help.

Gordon said these OFWs are "traumatized."

"They not only fear for their lives, but are constantly intimidated and harassed by Kazaks involved in the October 20 fatal event," he said.

Staying put?

According to Landicho, Filipino workers there have agreed among themselves not to go out of their barracks until it was mealtime. They also agreed not to report for work until the problem was solved.

"Sa ngayon wala kaming schedule ng trabaho. Pag pinapapasok kami wala sa amin papasok (Right now, we have no work schedule. If we are asked to report for work, we won’t go)," he said.

The Philippine Embassy in Islamabad in Pakistan, which has jurisdiction over Kazakhstan, has asked OFWs there if they want to be repatriated to the Philippines. But only three of them have said yes.

"At least three expressed such desire to the Embassy. The embassy is reconfirming with these workers, most are opting to stay on," Malaya said.

Cervantes said the US-based Bechtel will allow Filipinos to go home and the company will shoulder all the costs.

Bechtel also contacted the Philippine recruitment agency International Skills Development, which brought 447 Filipinos to a safe part of the work site, and assured that it is ready to move the Filipino workers out of harm’s way.

Henri Obayon, Bechtel official in Tengiz, informed the embassy that work at the oil drilling project has resumed.

Bechtel officials also met with the Filipino workers to reassure them of their safety and security.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has already instructed Ambassador to Pakistan Jaime Yambao to coordinate with the drilling company and the Kazak government in securing the safety of Filipinos and proceed to the work site if necessary. – With AFP, Marvin Sy