Manila, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs raised yesterday alert level 3 over Iraq (voluntary repatriation) prompted by the higher than expected surge in terrorist and sectarian violence in that country following the withdrawal of United States military forces in December 2011.
A ban on the further deployment of OFWs is automatically imposed in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment. Filipinos are likewise advised not to travel to the affected areas while alert level 3 is in effect.
According to the DFA, the alert level covers all regions of Iraq except the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, near the country’s border with Turkey. “Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario has given marching orders to the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad to contact and urge all remaining overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the country, to avail of the…repatriation offer,” the DFA said in a statement issued yesterday.
Under alert level 3, Filipinos who wish to leave Iraq are offered voluntary repatriation at government expense. There are currently 192 OFWs in Iraq’s Kurdish Region and 279 in the rest of the country that are registered with the Embassy. (Roy C. Mabasa)
