POEA temporarily bars deployment of new hires in Myanmar

Workers line up for overseas jobs at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office in Manila in this file photo taken on November 2, 2011. The Philippines says it has prohibited the deployment of newly hired OFWs in Myanmar due to tensions caused by military uprising in the country. AFP FILE PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has temporarily prohibited the deployment of newly hired overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Myanmar due to coup-related tensions, POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said Tuesday.

POEA issued the deployment ban after the Department of Foreign Affairs hoisted a crisis Alert Level 2 or restriction phase in Myanmar.

“May kaunting kaguluhan po sa Myanmar kaya po ang POEA governing board ay nagpatupad at nagpalabas ng isang resolution na kung saan nakalagay po doon na Level 2 yung state of alertness doon sa nasabing bansa kaya bawal po ngayon ang new hires,” Olalia said in a televised briefing.

(There are tensions in Myanmar that’s why the POEA governing board issued a resolution noting the Level 2 state of alertness, hence barring the deployment of new hires.)

“Ang pinapayagan lang po natin ma-deploy sa bansang Myanmar ay yung mga balik manggagawa kung tawagin natin. Yung mga direct hires at agency hires na bago po, hindi po papayagan dahil alert level 2 po ang bansang Myanmar,” he added.

(We are only allowing the deployment of returning OFWs. But the new direct and agency hires will not be allowed because of the alert level 2 hoisted over Myanmar.)

Tensions remain high in Myanmar after its military took over the country in an apparent coup.

READ: Filipinos in Myanmar urged to ‘remain calm,’ stay home after military takeover 

JPV