They went to Saudi Arabia with dreams of giving a better life to their families. But when they arrived in the kingdom their dreams turned into a nightmare. They had to escape abusive employers. And when they did they were left in a limbo, with no jobs, no money, and no means to go back home.
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
MIGRANT WATCH
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 7, March 16-29, 2008
They have not received their salaries for several months, some for a year or two, and the longest for 18 years. They have lived under a bridge, then in tents within the Philippine Consulate’s premises. Some of them have been duped by fixers, with promises of helping them return to the Philippines through the backdoor. They have been transported to different deportation facilities with hands and feet cuffed. They have been jam-packed in small cells, brawling with other stranded migrant workers for food to survive another day. They fear that they will be returned to their abusive employers whom they have already escaped from. Some of them have lost contact with their loved ones in the Philippines, because they do not have the money to do so or because the Saudi police have confiscated their mobile phones.
Only 18 women have been reportedly deported to the Philippines in February, while an estimated 250 OFWs have been stranded in Jeddah alone.
Is there still hope for the stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Jeddah to finally be reunited with their families?
Inhumane conditions
After living under the Al Khandara Bridge in Jeddah, where stranded migrant workers were desperately waiting for the Immigration police to arrest and deport them, the stranded OFWs have been transferred to the Philippine Consulate grounds. But several of them still stayed in tents because the Consulate could no longer accommodate their increasing number.
On Feb. 10, Migrante-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) chairperson Andrew Ociones reported that 24 male OFWs who signed Consul General Ezzedin Tago’s offer to go through the “legal deportation process” were endorsed by the Consul to the Jawassat or the Immigration Police. They were picked up at the Consulate and transferred to the deportation facility in Riyadh with feet and hands cuffed.
Ociones said that initially, only two of the about 88 OFWs living under the bridge accepted the offer. It rose to 24 after Tago phoned those working in part time jobs and offered them the option of “legal deportation process.”
A few days after the transfer of the 24 OFWs to Riyadh, Ociones received a barrage of text messages and missed callsfrom the OFWs who were supposedly under “due” process. Worried, Ociones returned their call to check on their situation. One OFW described it as kasuklam-suklam (terribly disgusting).
"Depressed na kaming lahat dito, sir. Walang mahigaan dito. Hindi kami makalakad sa sobrang siksikan. Tayo-upo lang kami. Gitgitan pa ang pag-upo. Nasa eskinita na kami, sir. Ako andito na ako sa may rehas, tabi ng pinto. Hindi pa kami kumakain mula kanina" (We are all depressed here, sir. We do not have anything to lie on. We cannot move around because it is so crowded. We can merely stand up and sit down in place. We bump into each other whenever we attempt to sit down. We are already cramped in a small space. I am staying near the bars of the prison cell near the door. We haven’t eaten yet.)
"Kasuklam-suklam ang kalagayan namin dito, sir. Please tulungan n’yo kami na maiparating sa lahat kung ano ang kalagayan namin dito. ‘Yung isang kasamahan namin hinang-hina na... si Noel... Farrales. Sa sobrang init, saka pagod" (Our condition here is terribly disgusting, sir. Please help us inform the public about our conditions here. One of our companions is already weak..he is Noel… Farrales… because of the heat and weariness. )OFW James Malasig told Ociones, noting that there are more than a hundred of them in an eight-by-fifteen-meter room.
"Ano ba naman itong ginawa nila sa amin, sir. Hindi ito ang sinabi nila sa amin nong pinapamirma nila kami ng 'due process...Hindi namin alam kung bakit balik kami uli sa simula. Sinisingil kami para daw sa litrato e anong ibibigay namin, wala na kaming pera. Tumawag ako kay Andam (tauhan ng Consulate sa Jeddah) nagulat din sya bakit kami andito. Ang sabi sa amin, bukas pa daw kami pupuntahan... Hindi man lang ba kami pwedeng silipin maski sandali lang. Sabi nya, bukas na lang daw..." (I could not understand what they are doing to us, sir. We were not told about this when they asked us to sign the papers agreeing to undergo “due process.” We do not know why it seems that we are back to where we started. They are asking us for money for our pictures but we do not have any money. I called up Andam from the Philippine consulate in Jeddah and he said he was also surprised to know why we are here. He said he can only visit us tomorrow. We begged him to visit us even for just a moment. But he said that the earliest he can visit us is tomorrow.)
Most of the stranded OFWs do not want to accept Tago’s proposal for “legal process” for fear that they will be separated from each other, and be sent back to their abusive employers, said Ociones. He said that one of the 24 OFWs who agreed to go through “due process” has since been returned to his employer from whom he had run away from.
Women, children not spared
Aside from the 24 males, 54 female OFWs were also turned over to the Immigration Police and were reportedly brought to different deportation facilities. OFW Sarah Masukat, who is four months pregnant and with a one year and 9 months old son Ryan told Ociones that some of the stranded female OFWs have been transferred to various facilities and some ended up being returned to their abusive employers.
Ociones said among the 54 were 43 female OFWs, mostly domestic helpers who were staying at the Welfare Center of the Overseas Workers Welfare Agency (OWWA). They were convinced by their case officers to go through the deportation proceedings because they were told that nothing would happen to their case (“walang kahihinatnan”). Among them were Leonora Somera and Syrel Morada.
Somera, a domestic helper in her 60s who was forced to shepherd goats have not received her salary for 18 years. She stayed at the Welfare Center in Jeddah for more than two years while her case was being heard. Ociones said that last year, Consulate officials bragged that they would be able to facilitate Somera’s repatriation after her case was resolved. But the migrant leader said they have confirmed that Somera is still in Jeddah and is among those camping out under the bridge.
Morada, who was brought to a deportation facility, is reportedly becoming weaker by the day. Ociones said that Morada, who is short and thin, could not wrestle for the meager food being given to them because the detainees from other nationalities are bigger.
Some of the deportees are suffering from loose bowel movement and fever, including Masukat’s son Ryan.
Losing hope
Another group of OFWs in a deportation facility in Jeddah likewise suffered the same fate in March.
"Gud am sir.pls help us 2b w/ our families, we r out of options alrdy.we dntknow wat 2 do ortink anymr.d consolet cnt help,dey evn mek 8 worse!gudnyt! pray 4 us...” (Good morning, sir. Please help us to be with our families, we are out of options already. We don’t know what to do or to think anymore. The Consulate can’t help. They even make it worse! Good night! Pray for us) read a text message from one of the OFWs Darren Belloc to Migrante International Secretary-General Maita Santiago last March 6.
His wife echoed the same grief in a text message to Santiago on March 10, “Mam, pinuntahan na daw po sila Darren ngayon ng taga-consulate. Sinabihan na sila na wala na daw sila magagawa. Kaya nagready na sila Darren para anytime byahe na sila pabalik Riyadh. Darren said kanina na baka sa Riyadh na lang daw i-distribute ang plane ticket nila” (Mam Darren was visited by an official from the Philippine consulate in Jeddah. They were told that the consulate could not do anything about their case. So they are getting ready to leave for Riyadh. Darren said that their plane tickets to the Philippines might be distributed to them in Riyadh.)
But the relatives of these OFWs awaiting deportation have been wondering where the plane tickets Philippine officials in Saudi allegedly promised the OFWs are. Ginalynne said her husband Darren told her that they were indeed promised tickets and that these tickets have already been approved.
On March 10, Darren texted Santiago,” We just hope na maabutan pa namin ang tiket kasi kung mabyahe na kami, magkakawatak-watak kami at mahihirapan na kami lalo kasi walang silbi ang konsulado o embassy sa Riyadh. Sana maagapan nila kami at ma-fax na ang tiket namin. We beg you all for your help. It’s really hard for us and our family. Congen Tago has a heart of stone.” (We just hope that we would be given our tickets while we are still here. Because if we are brought to Riyadh we would surely be separated from each other. It would be more difficult for us in Riyadh because the Philippine consulate or embassy in Riyadh are of no use. We hope we could already get our tickets and that it would be faxed to us here. We beg you all for your help. It’s really hard for us and our family. Consul General Tao has a heart of stone.)
The next day, before the 31 were transported to Riyadh, Darren texted Santiago again, “Ma’m can you text me if how true is the ticket? Hindi ba pwede ma-release na bukas night na kami ibyahe. Mahirap na kung magkawatak-watak na. Sigurado walang assistance magawa ang embassy sa Riyadh. Wala na po kami magawa, kundi ‘yung tiket na lang. Sana maabutan pa kami” (Mam can you text to us if the promised tickets are true? Can it not be released soon because we would be brought to Riyadh tomorrow night. It would be more difficult then because we would be separated from each other. We are sure that the embassy in Riyadh would not be able to help us. Our only hope is to be able to get the ticket before we are taken to Riyadh.)
Jenny, wife of OFW Marlon Ambil, told Bulatlat that she even heard some Arab-sounding men in the background when she got to talk to her husband before the transfer.
“Umiiyak s'ya. Tapos naririnig ko pa ‘yung mga Arabo, baka kukunin na sila no’n” (He was crying. I could even hear the Arab men in the background. Perhaps they were about to take them then.) said Jenny who was also crying.
On March 12, they were transferred to a Riyadh deportation facility, also with their feet and hands cuffed. They immediately sent text messages to their families here and to Migrante International Secretary-General Maita Santiago.
“Byahe na kami Riyadh. 31 kami..12 hours byahe. Ipray nalang kami. Nakaposas kamay at paa namin. Coordinate with Maita ha,” (We are being taken to Riyadh. There are 31 of us and we would be traveling for 12 hours. Please pray for us. Our hands and feet are in cuffs. Coordinate with Maita.) OFW Darren Belloc‘s message to his wife Ginalynne read.
That same day, some of the relatives of the recent batch of deportees transferred to Riyadh sought the help of Migrante International.
Like the OFWs who feel that they have been abandoned by Philippine embassy officials in Saudi, relatives here feel the same way, too.
One for all, all for one
According to Migrante-KSA, there are about 250 stranded OFWs in Jeddah alone. This number does not include the OFWs at the Welfare Center, in safehouses provided by fixers, and those who were transferred to other deportation facilities in Riyadh, Gassim, Abha, and Dammam.
So far, only 18 women have reportedly been deported to the Philippines in February. Hundreds more are struggling to survive while awaiting deportation.
If there is anything positive amid the nightmare engulfing the stranded OFWs is the camaraderie and unity developing among many of the stranded OFWs. This is best exemplified by Carlos Rebutar who emerged as the spokesperson of the stranded OFWs. Rebutar told his family that he would not leave Jeddah even if his family and friends are able to raise the money for his plane ticket.
Although worried about his son’s miserable condition and the consequences on him of being the spokesperson of the group, Leonila understands her son’s decision.
“Di daw n’ya kailangan ng pera o ticket (na ipapadala namin). Gusto n’ya umuwi silang sama-sama” (He said he doesn’t need the money or ticket that we may be able to send him. They want to go home together as a group.) Leonila told Bulatlat. Bulatlat
