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ABOUT 20 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) asked the government for help over the weekend as they continue to languish in a jail in Saudi Arabia after their supposed prison terms have lapsed.
The group coursed their plea for assistance to Migrante-Middle East (M-ME), a migrants’ rights group.
M-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said he received a call from Regoberto Gaspar, an inmate at the Al-Ha’er jail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who related that he and several other Filipino inmates are being kept in the jail even after their prison terms had lapsed.
The said group were previously charged for petty crimes by Saudi courts.
“Sir, naka-schedule ako ng uwi on October 24 pero kinuha ako ng pulis on October 26 papunta ng airport. Since lapsed na ang airplane ticket ko di ako naka-uwi [Sir, I was scheduled to leave on October 24 but the police fetched me on October 26 going to the airport. Since the airplane ticket had already lapsed, I could not go home],” Gaspar told Monterona over a cell phone.
Monterona reported that Gaspar repeatedly tried to call the Philippine Embassy’s Assistance to the National Staff (ANS) to no avail.
“OFW Gaspar lamented that he is overstaying in jail for eight months now though he had only five months sentence for possession of liquor. He assailed the lack of assistance from the Philippine embassy to follow closely his and fellow OFW inmates’ cases as they wish to be home by Christmas and to be reunited their respective families in the Philippines,” Monterona cited.
Besides Gaspar, among the allegedly “overstaying” Filipino inmates at the said jail are Senen Reyes, Cristobal Argel, Nordin Sibayan, Francis Esquebel, Danilo Daliposa and Darius Ferrer.
There are about 77 OFW inmates incarcerated in Al-Ha’er jail in Riyadh, Saudi’s capital according to the information received by M-ME.
Monterona said that he still getting the names of other inmates who claimed they have already completed their jail term so that he could officially endorse the list to the Philippine embassy.
He said that he aims to urge the ANS to attend to the deportation of the overstaying inmates without further delay.
Monterona also revealed that there are OFWs decrying their continued imprisonment after the lapse of their jail terms in Malaz Central Jail.
“There are 120-plus OFW inmates in different cells in Malaz jail. About 40 of them claimed they’ve already done their respective clearances and are awaiting their release and deportation,” Monterona said.
“We are also receiving reports that there are undisclosed numbers of women OFWs locked up in Al-Nisa jail, also in Riyadh, for various offenses. I have asked the PH embassy regarding this; though embassy officials confirmed the report, they however refused to divulge additional information,” he added.
Monterona urged the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs to look into the cases of overstaying OFW inmates, especially women OFW inmates in Saudi Arabia.
“If Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Indian governments were able to promptly follow the cases of their jailed nationals and sent them home after completion of their jail terms without delay, why the PH govt. could not do the same?” Monterona asked.
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