Conejos not quick to lift the deployment ban just yet...

14 freed RP seafarers to arrive home from Nigeria
05/27/2009 | 04:28 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Fourteen of the 16 Filipino seafarers on board the hijacked MV Spirit in Nigeria would be flown back to Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The first batch of eight Filipino seafarers would arrive Wednesday evening at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) with Geranfel T. Abrillo from the Philippine Embassy in Abuja. The remaining six will arrive on Thursday.

At least two seafarers who sustained injuries after the daring rescue mission by Niger authorities have been given medical attention before their departure in Nigeria and will be further assisted upon their arrival in Manila. [See: 2 rescued Pinoy seafarers in Nigeria injured - DFA]

Despite the rescue, two more Filipino seamen remain with members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which hijacked the MV Spirit, a chartered oil tanker, last May 13.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos, Jr. said the Philippine Government is coordinating with the Nigerian Foreign Ministry and the Nigerian State Security Services to look for the remaining two seafarers.

"We are exerting all efforts to confirm the whereabouts and condition of the two other seafarers. We have met and are coordinating with their families in Manila," he said.

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.

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. [See: Seafarers’ ban should be on Nigeria, not Somalia - UFS]

But Conejos is not quick to lift the deployment ban just yet.

"This recent incident where a number of Filipino seafarers were hurt in the crossfire between Nigerian security forces and Nigerian militants highlights again the dangerous situation in the Niger Delta," Conejos said. - Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV