050607: DFA to repatriate 45 OFWs in Nigeria

The Philippine Star 05/06/2007

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has ordered the immediate repatriation of 45 Filipino workers of the Daewoo Engineering and Construction company in Nigeria.

The repatriation will take place even as government continues to work with the Nigerian government for the safe release of eight Filipinos abducted by armed group from their work site in Port Harcourt Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

"Secretary Romulo has issued a directive to the Philippine Embassy in Abuja. One is to focus on the 45 remaining OFWs. Second, is the safe and immediate release of the OFWs who were abducted," Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said at a press conference.

He said that the remaining 45 OFWs were moved from the work site and moved to a hotel on the embassy’s instructions shortly after the abduction of eight Filipino workers from the same work area.

Meanwhile, Romulo, upon instructions of President Arroyo, has directed the Philippine embassies in Iraq and Nigeria to ensure that consular assistance is quickly provided to Filipino nationals in the wake of the death of a Filipino in Baghdad and the abductions in Nigeria.

Daewoo’s remaining Filipino workers in Nigeria "are safe as we speak," Conejos said. "The instruction of (Romulo) is their immediate repatriation and return to the Philippines. We are working on that now."

He added that these Filipino workers "do not have a choice anymore. The 45 Filipinos do not have jobs. They are staying in the hotel. Where would they go? This one is mandatory."

According to him, the DFA has established contact with the Daewoo management, which set up an emergency contact center in Port Harcourt to coordinate all efforts for the safe release of the abducted Filipino workers.

However, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the eight Filipino workers, Conejos said: "At this time no group has come forward to own the abduction and (there is) no direct contact yet with them. We have already engaged the Nigerian government. Our standard procedure is to link up directly with them. They make direct negotiations with the armed group. We are putting up all instrumentalities there."

Conejos was scheduled to meet yesterday with representatives of the Korean embassy in Manila to coordinate and properly synchronize all efforts for the early and safe release of the Filipinos.

The deployment ban of workers to Nigeria is likely to remain in place following the abduction of eight Filipinos by armed men who stormed into the Daewoo camp in Port Harcourt.

Worried because of the security breach, the Daewoo management was forced to evacuate their workers to a safer area after the abduction.

The Filipinos were abducted along with three Koreans – including the project manager.

The armed men breached security perimeter power of the camp where the Daewoo power plant was under construction and abducted the 11 workers at 1:40 a.m. Nigerian time.

Vice Consul Randy Arquiza of the Philippine embassy in Abuja, Nigeria reported the abduction immediately to Conejos after receiving a call from a Filipino worker at the camp who informed the embassy about the incident.

The DFA instructed the Philippine embassy to send a consular mission to Port Harcourt to look into the abduction and ensure the safety of the other Filipinos there.

A three-man consular team was expected to arrive in Port Harcourt, which is a 10-hour drive from Abuja, on Thursday.

Once he receives more information from the embassy, Conejos said he will write another assessment of the security situation in Nigeria and submit it to Labor Secretary Arturo Brion for consideration.

Under the law, it is the labor secretary who decides when to impose or lift a full or partial worker deployment ban. Conejos said he had submitted an initial assessment report to Brion Monday based on ground reports from the Philippine embassy in Abuja that the peace and order situation in Nigeria has begun to stabilize.

The ban on worker deployment to Nigeria has been in place since January due to security concerns following the abductions of several Filipinos at the time. All the Filipinos were eventually released.

Philippine embassy in Baghdad Charge d’Affaires Wilfredo Cuyugan said the employer of the slain Filipino in Baghdad has informed the embassy that the Filipino’s remains are at the mortuary of the Baghdad Ibn Sina Hospital and will be flown home to the Philippines once consular documentation is completed.

The Philippine mission in Baghdad was temporarily moved to Amman, Jordan.

Four people, including a Filipino, were killed in a mortar attack on May 2 inside the Al Taji Army Airfield in the town of Taji, which is some 27 kilometers northwest of downtown Baghdad.

Romulo said the total ban on OFW deployment and travel to Iraq and the ban on overseas Filipino worker (OFW) deployment to Nigeria remain. He also strongly urged Filipinos in Iraq and Nigeria to avail themselves of the government’s program to repatriate them. – Pia Lee Brago and Michael Punongbayan

 

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