The DFA raised the crisis alert level in Iraq to 3 and this means the Philippine government will facilitate the voluntary repatriation of all Filipinos in the country,

The alert level covers all regions of Iraq except the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, near the country’s border with Turkey.

The following warning is taken from the Facebook page of PIA-OFW Watch

Filipino job-seekers were warned strongly against falling for promises of fake jobs in four Chinese cities and the special territories of Hong Kong and Macau, where hiring of foreigners remains restricted.

The warning was issued by the Philippine Embassy in Beijing and the Philippine Consulates General in Chongging, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Macau.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has a new program that would ensure that screening procedures of international travelers in all airports and seaports would be done with utmost courtesy. The new program BI-Cares stands for “courtesy, accountability, responsibility, efficiency, and service” and it comes with the guidelines on how immigration officers should properly inspect arriving and departing international travelers.

Under the new procedures, OFWs with no valid overseas employment certificate (OEC) from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will not be cleared for departure.

The passengers that are suspected to be victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment will be required to undergo secondary inspection. Passengers will be assessed depending on age, educational attainment and financial capacity.

Read more about BI-CARES.

 The worsening violence in South Sudan prompts the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to raise the crisis alert level to 3 calling for OFW deployment ban. The DFA also announced that they would assist in the repatriation of willing OFWs in Sudan.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said, “For prudence’s sake, we have raised crisis alert level 3 in South Sudan in light of escalating violence in the capital where most of our nationals are located. We are ready to move our people out, should they wish to leave.”

According to the statement, “The DFA has instructed the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, which has jurisdiction over South Sudan, to implement the voluntary repatriation program.”

Data from the DFA said that there are a minimum of 150 Filipinos in Sudan and most of them are employed in construction companies, the United Nations and some non-government organizations.

After reports of violent protests and demonstrations in Bahrain, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is hoping that the security situation will improve soon. The government agency is closely monitoring the situation and hoping that things would return to normal quickly.

The Secretary of DFA, Albert del Rosario said, “We’re also keeping a close watch there and hopefully the situation will improve and can be restored to normalcy.”

The clashes recently claimed the life of a teenager fromBahrainwho was hit in the head by a tear gas canister.Australia and Britain already issued an advisory for their nationals in Bahrain to avoid public places and exercise caution.

However, Roberto Carrillo, a Filipino writer for the Bahrain Daily Tribune, said that Filipinos in Bahrain are not so worried about the security situation there.

Carrillo said, “Hindi naman nababahala ang mga Filipino kasi for one thing the Philippine Embassy is very active na mag-inform sa mga Pilipino kung saan ang mangyayaring riot, kaguluhan, mga rally, ganyan. So, for us, parang normal na siya. Nasanay na kami kung ano ang mangyayari.