Thirty-seven overseas Filipino workers repatriated from Kuwait and Jeddah are arriving today at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after their foreign employers issued them clearances to leave, Administrator Carmelita S. Dimzon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said.
Overseas Filipino workers arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport through a special lane. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aryty/
The first batch of 19 from Kuwait is arriving on KU411 at about 4:30 pm.
The second batch of 18 is coming from Jeddah on MH 802 at about 5:30 pm.
Twenty-five OFWs are arriving on Thursday, April 1, on MH802 at about 5:30 pm.
OWWA’s repatriation team will assist the repatriated workers clear NAIA procedures, Administrator Dimzon said. Efforts were made to advise relatives of the arrivals.
Most of the repatriated workers are females.
Dimzon said that repatriated workers were either deportation cases due to expired visas, or runaway workers reported by their foreign employers to host immigration authorities as having breached their employment contracts.
With their status transformed into overstaying aliens, runaway workers can only fly home after their employers issue exit clearances. Workers can be stranded for weeks or many months while negotiations for clearances from their employers were ongoing.
The embassy, Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, and OWWA welfare officers assisted the workers in negotiations and accommodated them at workers’ resource centers.
Dimzon said that OWWA books workers on the earliest available flights home to avoid their being subjected to a new round of hearings as overstaying aliens.
When they arrive in the Philippines, workers may stay at OWWA’s Halfway House at the OWWA Center in Pasay City while waiting for domestic transportation back to their provinces. The repatriation service includes medical services and counseling.
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