Majority of Filipino amnesty seekers in UAE prefer to stay —PH ambassador

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Majority of overstaying Filipinos availing of the ongoing amnesty program prefer to find work and stay here, Philippine Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Alfonso A. Ver said.

A total of 286 overstaying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their children have been repatriated in six batches, the latest of which was a group of 50 who left on the evening of Oct. 11, according to Ver.

This, with just about three more weeks in the ongoing two-month long amnesty program left.

Speaking to GMA News Online, Ver said most of those who have so far availed of the amnesty, which started on Sept. 1, preferred to stay and take their chances at getting a job before the window of opportunity closes with the amnesty deadline on Oct.31.

“Those (286 repatriates) are figures for those who opted to go home. We don’t have figures for those who are staying to work, but it’s the majority. This is so because the amnesty program is very generous,” the ambassador said.

The amnesty program waives fines and penalties for overstaying. It also offers two options: leave the country with a clean record and return if they wish to, or stay provided they have found jobs.

There were more than 2,000 overstayers who have availed of the amnesty program during its first week, the embassy and Philippine Consulate General (PCG) said in a joint advisory last month.

The Philippine Embassy, earlier last night, announced on its Facebook page that a fifth batch of 36 overstaying OFWs were repatriated on Oct. 10 through coordination with PCG and the Migrant Workers Offices (MWOs) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This brought the total to 236 as of Oct. 10.

“(This), plus another 50 in Dubai as we speak,” Ver said, referring to a sixth batch of overstayers flown home also last night simultaneous with the FB announcement.

This altogether brought the total to 286. These amnesty seekers were assisted by the Philippine Embassy and MWOs in the documentary requirements to clear their immigration status, and were also provided reintegration assistance upon arrival in the Philippines.

Ver reminded overstaying OFWs to regularize their immigration status in accordance with UAE laws before the amnesty deadline.

The first batch of overstayers comprising 64 OFWs and their children left UAE on Sept. 12. Another batch of 40 were flown home on Sept. 20.

The MWO in Dubai has, in just the first 12 days of the program, recorded 146 cases of children who do not have birth certificates because they were born to unwed, overstaying mothers. —KG, GMA Integrated News