Undocumented Filipinos camping outside Philippine Consulate office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia now reach 700 according to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).  With this, Vice President Jejomar Binay call on speedy processing of the exit papers of illegal Filipinos who wants to return to the Philippines.  

“I am asking the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to expedite the processing of exit papers of undocumented Filipinos who wants to go back home,” Binay said.

The order of VP Binay was due to the three month grace period given by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to undocumented workers and their employers to correct their work and residency status.  After the grace period, violators including employers and employees may face charges depending on the weight  of their violations with fine ranging from one thousand to fifty thousand Saudi Riyals (P11,002-P550,105).

Meanwhile, Labor Attache to Al-Khobar Adam Musa and Labor Attache to Jeddah Alejandro Padaen, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz  said that the employers of the undocumented Filipinos in KSA should finally give them Iqama and residential permits.

“This is a welcome development for those affected workers. The Post has not received any reports of OFWs being arrested on these grounds, but some workers have expressed apprehension and were presumed to have been psychologically affected,” Baldoz said.

However, the labor attaché reported that the main problem is the undocumented mothers and children seeking repatriation who have not yet passed the requirements imposed by Saudi government.

 “Most of the parents do not possess a marriage contract, or have an expired Iqama, or have no Iqama at all. Under Shariah Law, birth out of wedlock is punishable by imprisonment before deportation,” the report stated. Baldoz, however, said that the POLO is coordinating with the proper Saudi authorities to assist OFWs who will need assistance for their repatriation.

Vice president Binay clarified that there is no amnesty for foreigners who are illegally staying in Saudi because their case is an immigration problem and not work-related.

“Workers who have long run away from their original sponsors and no longer have valid residency permits or passports meanwhile are in a different category altogether. Theirs is an immigration problem and no longer a labor one,” he added.

Based on the January-June 2012 Report to the Congress on the Implementation of RA 8042 of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, there are 20,000 undocumented workers in Riyadh; 10,000 in Jeddah and in the Western Region; 300 in the Eastern Region; and 100 in Central Region.