Manila has asked Riyadh to do away with some requirements, to speed up the repatriation of over 2,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are staying illegally in Saudi Arabia.
This develops following reports that Saudi authorities were bent on investigating whether these Filipinos have pending cases, outstanding debts or unfinished business in the kingdom before they are given clearance to leave.
The Filipinos have camped outside the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, following a crackdown on thousands of foreigners who have been staying in the kingdom without the necessary documents.
Raul Hernandez, spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said in Manila on Friday that the repatriation process would be tedious and complicated, as most of these Filipinos have absconded their employers.
But he said that officials at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah “have started talking to the Saudi government … to waive some of the requirements to expedite” the repatriation of OFWs.
Riyadh has given foreigners they rounded up until the end of June to legalize their stay in the kingdom, or face imprisonment and a fine of between 1,000 and 50,000 Saudi riyals (Dh979.59 – 48,979.67).
The oil-rich Saudi Arabia is home to about 1.5 million OFWs, the largest number among the host-economies.
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