Seafarers’ ban should be on Nigeria, not Somalia - UFS

Seafarers’ ban should be on Nigeria, not Somalia - UFS
MARK JOSEPH H. UBALDE, GMANews.TV
05/22/2009 | 07:46 PM
MANILA, Philippines - A group of Filipino seafarers is urging the government to rethink its deployment ban to high-risk piracy zones near Somali waters and focus instead on banning seamen to the Nigerian delta.

The United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) issued the statement on Friday after 11 Filipino seafarers were rescued from Nigerian insurgents early this week. Five more Filipinos on board the oil tanker MV Spirit remain with Nigerian bandits. [See: 2 more Pinoy seafarers rescued in Nigeria - DFA]

“Unlike the Gulf of Aden where the risk of piracy is sporadic, Nigeria is practically a war-torn country and the danger is quite imminent especially for seafarers who are working onboard vessels plying within the Nigerian coastal waters," said UFS president Nelson Ramirez.

The Philippines has stopped sending Filipino workers to the African country in 2007 due to kidnappings and civil unrest in the Niger delta. The ban, however, doesn’t cover seafarers passing through the important waterway in Nigeria.

Ramirez has been a staunch critic of the government’s deployment ban on Filipino seafarers to the Gulf of Aden, calling the policy risky and ridiculous. [See: 'Deployment ban to Gulf of Aden risky, ridiculous']

The UFS president receives reports that there are at least 13 commercial vessels are currently trapped in the Swari River as a result of the ongoing firefighting between military forces and members of the rebel group Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).

“Those ships cannot proceed with their sailing schedule as they may be caught in the crossfire. As many of the vessels are manned by Filipino seafarers, they are actually confused on what to do next and would like to seek the assistance of the government," Ramirez said.

The UFS is the latest group to affirm the government’s deployment ban of Filipino workers to Nigeria since 2007. Several migrant groups in Manila and even in the Nigerian capital of Abuja are lobbying for the Philippines to lift the deployment ban citing better working conditions in the oil-rich country.

“We support the call of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) … that the government lift the ban on Nigeria," Center for Migrant Advocacy executive director Ellen Sana recently told GMANews.TV.

Sana also claimed that the Filipinos in Nigeria – most of whom are reportedly happily working and living there since the 1970s – are safe. - GMANews.TV

SEAFARERS

Nigeria: 8 Filipino hostages, 4 Ukrainians, rescued from militants
05/23/2009 | 12:03 AM

ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria's foreign minister said Friday that the military has rescued 12 hostages – eight Filipinos and four Ukrainians – from militants being targeted by the armed forces in the southern oil region.

Ojo Maduekwe told diplomats gathered in the capital, Abuja, that a weeklong military operation aimed at uprooting militant fighters in a southern state was aimed at neutralizing a threat to Nigerian sovereignty as well as security across the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea region.

He also said the stepped-up activities of the military task force, known as the JTF, were not retribution for soldiers killed by militants, who claim at least a dozen troops have died at their hands since the fighting began one week ago.

"JTF operations are not retaliatory. They are partly a reassurance to the troops and their families that members of the of the JTF are not mere sitting ducks for the militants," he said.

The militants, meanwhile, said the three remaining Filipino hostages they're holding will be set free soon. Maduekwe said two other Filipinos had died in the fighting, confirming assertions made earlier by militants.

The military launched its effort May 15 to dislodge fighters loyal to a militant leader, Government Tompolo, in southern Delta state, sending attack helicopters, fighter jets and boats filled with soldiers against the militants' camps. Amnesty International says hundreds of people are feared dead in the violence, but no firm death toll is known.

Activists from the Ijaw ethnic group that live in the area accuse the military of massacring their people and firing on civilians. The military denies the charges.

Authorities consider the entire Niger Delta region, an area of swamps and creeks the size of Scotland, to be a military zone and travel there is strictly controlled. Journalists haven't been able to access the area of the fighting.

It's the military's biggest operation in that part of Nigeria since militant violence began rising in 2006. The militants say they're fighting to force the federal government to send more of the oil-industry derived funds it controls back to the Niger Delta, which remains deeply impoverished despite five decades of oil production. They also sabotage oil pipelines and kidnap foreign workers, who are normally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Tompolo had signed a pact with the state government about two years ago not to attack troops or destroy oil pipelines, which had caused a marked decrease in violence in the state, but the clashes appear to have flared after his fighters fought a rare, deadly gunbattle with the military.

Dozens of other militant camps with fighters loyal to various commanders are believed to exist across the southern Niger Delta region where the crude is pumped in Africa's biggest oil producer. The armed forces haven't yet spread their offensive across the region, but militants say they're girding for a fight if it comes. - AP