KUWAIT CITY, March 5: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Iraq and Kuwait welcomed on Tuesday the decision of the Philippine government to lift the deployment ban of OFWs to Iraq. The Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) in Manila has announced the lifting of the ban after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board signed a resolution approving the lifting of the ban.

Peaceful
This came after the visit of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assessment Team to Iraq in January this year and after the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad has certified Iraq on February 4 as compliant with the guarantees of the law on the protection of foreign workers, ending the five-year ban to Iraq that was implemented on Dec 17, 2007 due to volatile political and security conditions in the country.

Rosalie Patahog, one of the OFWs who works in Erbil, Iraq for a security company in the oil sector expressed happiness on the lifting of the ban. She has been in Iraq for six years now.

“They have been requesting for a lot of Filipino workers because they have seen how hardworking the Filipino workers are. With the lifting of the ban, I can finally go home for a vacation and be with my family in the Philippines after six years,” she disclosed to the Arab Times on the phone. She cited that there are a lot of companies in Iraq that give good salary and benefits. She stressed that Iraq especially the Kurdistan region has been relatively peaceful.

There are over 600 Filipinos in Kurdistan and over 200 Filipinos in Baghdad and Basra, and for them, the lifting of the ban just came at the right time.

“The Kurdish are very hospitable. They really appreciate us for coming here, helping them out in making their country grow. I hope we’ll be able to go back home safely with no fear that people will stop us from coming back here. A lot of opportunities await Filipino workers in Kurdistan,” pointed out Marisna Almonte who has been working as an Administration and Accounting Manager for a multinational construction company in Kurdistan since 2009.

Tourism
The DFA has lowered the crisis alert level in Iraq to alert level 1 or precautionary phase, with mandatory travel restriction to “no-go” zones to be determined by the host country. The POEA Governing Board has agreed to resume the processing and deployment of returning workers or ‘balik-manggagawa’ or rehires, upon the submission of list of areas identified as “no-go” zones by the Iraqi government. However, the processing and deployment of new hires, except Household Service Workers (HSWs), shall resume upon the conclusion of a bilateral labour agreement between Iraq and the Philippines and the identification of the restricted zones.

“This is an answered prayer for all of us who have been wanting go home and be with our family. With the lifting of the ban, our entry to and movement in Iraq is now made easier,” stated Vic Ramos, a Senior Manager of an international telecommunication company in Kurdistan.

Aside from the employment opportunities, the lifting of the Iraq ban also opens a new door of opportunity to boost tourism between Iraq and the Philippines as there are a lot of locals who would want to visit the Philippines.

Meanwhile, OFWs in Kuwait are also happy with the lifting of the ban especially those who worked in Iraq before.

“I would definitely work in Iraq again. The security situation now is much better than the years before plus the salary is higher and we get more benefits,” shared Rogelio Santos who used to work as a trailer driver for a supply chain management company in Iraq.

Several manpower recruitment agencies in Kuwait also welcomed the lifting of the ban as they start to look as early as now for manpower requirements of several multinational companies, hospitals, hotels, oil sector as well as the government sector in Iraq.

Along with the lifting of the deployment ban in Iraq, the POEA Governing Board has also issued a separate resolution lifting the deployment ban of OFWs to Yemen and Eritrea.