Bello: No ban yet on deployment of OFWs

MANILA, Philippines — There is no deployment ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) despite the international travel restrictions due to a highly contagious variant of the virus causing COVID-19.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they had not barred Filipinos from leaving to work abroad but many OFW destination countries had closed their borders.

Nearly all countries in the Middle East and many countries in Asia have temporarily barred the entry of migrant workers.

“We could not deploy in Kuwait and other Middle East countries because they have full restrictions. The only country I know that allows our deployment is the UAE (United Arab Emirates),” Bello told reporters on Monday.

He also mentioned Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea among the countries that have restricted the entry of migrant workers.

—Dona Z. Pazzibugan

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