MANILA – More than a year after calling for the forced evacuation of Filipinos owing to security threats in the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) lowered the crisis alert level in Iraq to 3 or voluntary repatriation on Tuesday.
The alert level was downgraded as a result of “some improvements in the country’s security situation,” as requested by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“Filipinos in Iraq are enjoined to continue to exercise caution, restrict movements only to those which are necessary, and keep their communication lines open with the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad,” the DFA said.
The DFA stated that returning OFWs to Iraq are now exempted from the deployment prohibition, subject to particular circumstances outlined in the recently issued Governing Board Resolution (GBR) No. 9, series of 2021, of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
The OFW must be an active worker in Iraq with evidence of recent stay and that he or she is returning to the same employer, according to the resolution.
The workstation of the returning OFW must also be outside the no-go zones, namely, the provinces of Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Mosul; Sard City in Baghdad; and Amedi and Mahkmour in Erbil.
Among others, the POEA requires that the employer sign an undertaking guaranteeing the OFW’s “secured work premises” in Iraq, financial sponsorship as well as facilitation of repatriation covering both the airfares and visa penalties.
According to the POEA, the returning OFW should not be a household service worker.
Iraq was placed on crisis alert level 4 or obligatory repatriation last January 2020, after tensions in the region intensified following the death of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds military force, in a US airstrike on January 3, 2020.
For emergencies, the agency advised all concerned to immediately contact the Embassy through +9647506561740, +9647516167838, and +9647508105240, or baghdad.pe@dfa.gov.ph.
