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POEA: No OFW deployment ban yet in Israel
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:48:00 01/02/2009
Filed Under: War, Armed conflict, Safety of Citizens
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration is closely monitoring the
escalating conflict in the Palestine-controlled Gaza, but
said it will not issue a deployment ban in Israel just yet.
POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said the POEA
cannot issue a ban without consultation from other
government agencies like the Department of Labor and
Employment, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
She said the POEA is being kept updated on the
situation in case overseas Filipino workers get trapped
in the crossfire between Hamas and Israeli fighters.
“Since the outbreak of violence there, we check from
time to time with our labor attaché so we can be properly
advised on the condition of our OFWs as well as on the
actions to take,” Manalili said in a statement.
The bloodiest conflict yet between Israel and Hamas,
which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist
organization, has claimed over 400 lives. The fighting is
poised to intensify as the Israeli airstrikes have killed a
senior Hamas leader on Thursday.
Labor officials said there are 123 Filipino nationals in
Gaza and 39,000 OFWs in Israel.
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said Filipinos in
Gaza do not want to be repatriated to the Philippines
even as the airstrikes pound Gaza into ruins.
Dimzon said most of the Filipinos in the Palestinian
territory are women who have married Palestinians and
have settled in Gaza with their families.
The OFWs in Israel, on the other hand, are
concentrated in the capital of Tel Aviv and out of reach
from the bombings, labor officials said. Most of the
OFWs in Israel work as caregivers and nurses.
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