The Sultanate of Oman will soon undertake a crackdown on overstaying foreigners including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with expired visas in a bid to weed out undesirable aliens from the sultanate, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.

Oman-based Labor Attache Eleuterio Cojuangco reported to Labor and Employment Acting Secretary Manuel G. Imson that the Royal Oman Police (ROP) is set to begin the crackdown after the deadline on August 19, 2005.

Imson urged the families of OFWs whose visas have already expired or about to expire soon especially those who are working illegally in Oman to warn their kin regarding the crackdown to avoid consequences that may pose a threat to their lives and welfare.

He said the affected OFWs could seek assistance from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Oman.

Cojuangco in his report cited a stern warning from the ROP coursed through the Directorate of Public Relations ordering foreign workers and other expatriates in Oman with expired visit or tourist visas to leave the country on or before the Aug. 19 deadline.

According to him, the ROP would only impose a fine to the overstaying foreigners upon their departure from Al Seeb International Airport without being detained and charged for violating Oman immigration laws to encourage them to leave Oman before August 19.

The labor attache also said the Philippine Embassy and the POLO have started a massive information campaign to inform the OFWs regarding the crackdown even as Philippine Ambassador Acmad D. Omar is lobbying, together with other ambassadors from labor sending countries, for the extension of the deadline and possibly a plea for amnesty.

He said overstaying OFWs including those undocumented in Oman are being encouraged to voluntarily leave the country prior to the deadline to avoid detention. The POLO and other embassy staff, he said, would extend necessary assistance to the affected OFWs.

Cojuangco disclosed that there could be about 2,300 to 2,500 overstaying undocumented OFWs in Oman. Meanwhile, those documented and deployed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in this country in 2004 totaled 4,279.

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For more DOLE news and information, visit their website at www.dole.gov.ph.