The Department of Foreign Affairs is set to send a rapid response team (RRT) to Qatar, the agency’s Office of Migrant Workers Affairs acting executive director Raul Dado said Wednesday.
In an interview, Dado said the DFA is scheduled to deploy its RRT to coordinate with the embassy team in Qatar, a few days after other Arab countries have decided to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar due to interfering with its policies.
“I’m meeting my teams tomorrow to see if there’s an impending alert and should we recommend one,” Dado said when asked if the DFA plans to implement repatriation efforts in Qatar.
“Also we are sending an RRT soon,” he added.
Usually, Dado said, the DFA monitors back door diplomacy to address the situation.
“DFA monitors back door diplomacy that goes behind the scenes between the Arabs on whether there will be fence mending away from the public eye,” he said.
The DFA for Office of Public Diplomacy executive director Charmaine Aviquivil, meanwhile, said that the DFA and other concerned agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment, OWWA, POEA, Philippine embassies and Philippine Overseas Labor offices in the Gulf Region are continuously closely monitoring, reassessing, and coordinating the situation of the overseas Filipino workers in Qatar.
Aviquivil also clarified that individuals working in or who have “urgent business” in Qatar are free to return but should observe usual precautions.
“The PH government continues to process documents for employment in Qatar. However new hires still in the Philippines will be covered by a temporary moratorium on deployment while the situation is being assessed,” she added.
The DFA also renewed its call for all Filipinos in the region to exercise prudence given the events of the past days. It also assured that the Philippine government is ready to assist them and provide all necessary assistance as the situation arose.
“The government renews its call for our “kababayans” in the region to exercise prudence given the events of the past days and reiterates its readiness to provide all necessary assistance as it remains committed to safeguarding the welfare of Overseas Filipinos in the region,” the DFA said.
Based on DFA data, as of 2015, there are 2,297,551 Filipinos working in the Middle East and Africa. There are 250,000 Filipinos who are working in Qatar; 60,000 in Bahrain; 5,000 in Egypt; almost one million in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and 600,000 in United Arab Emirates. There are a total of 7,979,716 Filipinos working abroad.
On Monday, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen cut diplomatic ties with Qatar after it accused the latter of allegedly backing terrorist groups.
Foreign Affairs chief Alan Peter Cayetano said the decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar would directly affect the OFWs. He said that the Philippines will continue to monitor the developments.
“Any rivalries among the nations in Middle East will definitely affect business, and will definitely affect the large number of our OFWs there,” Cayetano said.