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OVERSEAS Filipinos in Jordan numbering 140—including 11 under-aged
workers and eight children born in Jordan—are set to be
repatriated to the Philippines.
Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Julius Torres
reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Filipinos,
mostly migrant workers, could now be repatriated as they have been
issued a waiver for their overstay fines by Jordan’s Ministry of
Interior.
During a call made on Jordanian Minister of
Labor Bassem Al Salem, Torres conveyed his appreciation to the Labor
Ministry for facilitating the waiver. The workers could now be
repatriated to the Philippines after the department facilitated the
purchase of one-way plane tickets for them.
Jordan imposes a fine equivalent to $2.50 per
day for aliens whose residency permits have expired. The
overstay fines of the 140 Filipinos covered from three months to
three years, with one overseas worker accumulating fines covering
eight years.
Meanwhile, Al Salem expressed hope that the
Philippines would soon lift the temporary suspension of deployment
of Filipino domestic workers to Jordan.
An interim joint committee formed in December
2007, consisting of representatives from the Labor Ministry, the
Embassy, and the recruitment agents’ association, have not only
resolved a number of individual cases but also identified certain
procedural and practical obstacles in the relevant recruitment
processes in the Philippines and Jordan.
Torres and Al Salem agreed that it is time to
change certain procedures and update the 1988 bilateral Memorandum
of Understanding on Labor Matters to reflect current conditions.
A Jordanian delegation may visit Manila soon to
study the deployment process in the Philippines and prepare for the
signing of a new labor agreement.
-- Katrice R. Jalbuena
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