THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shouldered the expenses of overseas Filipino workers who were laid off and stranded in the oil-rich country.
The Saudi Arabia embassy announced that King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has provided SR 100,000,000 or P1.2 billion to provide the OFWs housing, food, sanitary and health services, and free airline tickets to those who want to fly home.
Roughly 11,000 Filipinos are among tens of thousands of workers affected by financial troubles at the kingdom’s major construction firms.
“Their salaries have not been paid, some of them for as long as eight months,” Iric Arribas, charge d’affaires at the Philippine Embassy said.
“It turned into a humanitarian crisis.”
Workers were unable to renew their residency permits, meaning they could not leave the country and could not access their bank accounts, he said.
Some living in company accommodation “did not have food”, Arribas added.
About 7,000 of the Filipinos worked for Saudi Oger Ltd., while 3,000 were with Saudi Binladin Group and the rest with other firms, Arribas said.
Saudi King Salman earlier this month ordered various measures to help affected foreign workers.
These include a waiver of penalties for expired work and residency permits, payment for flights home, and for food and accommodation when the employers were no longer meeting their obligations.
Lawyers hired by the Saudi government will handle claims for delayed salaries, even if workers leave the country.
Arribas said Philippines officials and the Saudi labor ministry are coordinating “to implement the general provisions of the directive from the king.”
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello on Wednesday thanked Salman for his help.
Bello, who met his Saudi counterpart Mufarrej al-Haqbani, handed over a letter of gratitude from President Rodrigo Duterte, Arribas said.
Before leaving for Saudi Arabia Bello said Duterte wants the workers back as soon as possible.
“The majority of them would like to go home” and perhaps return to work in the kingdom later, Arribas said.
The stranded Filipinos worked in a variety of jobs including engineering, technical and office positions.
Sources in March said delayed receipts from the government, whose oil revenues have dropped significantly over the past two years, left employees of the kingdom’s construction giants struggling while they wait for salaries.
The Saudi Gazette reported on Wednesday that a Pakistani minister had also arrived in the kingdom to try to help more than 10,000 of his countrymen who are similarly stranded.
In early August India’s minister of state for external affairs, V.K. Singh, met with Haqbani to discuss the plight of about 2,500 Indian workers.
In a press conference, a Foreign Affairs spokesman said the employers have no capacity to pay the OFWs back wages, allowances and benefits, resulting from a massive retrenchment.
“Those who were laid-off preferred to stay until they received their back wages, allowances, and benefits,” said department spokesman Charles Jose.
He also said that the Philippine government also extended emergency, humanitarian, legal and consular assistance such as food and medical provision, to the OFWs stranded there.
Jose also urged all stranded Filipinos to authorize the embassy and consulate there to collect unpaid wages, allowances and service benefits on their behalf so they will be able to go back home soon.
He also added that the government will provide public lawyers to help them with the legal process.
On Tuesday, Bello left for Saudi Arabia to help the laid off Filipinos and to bring a letter of gratitude to the King of Saudi Arabia for helping them. With AFP