THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will assist Filipinos who have recently turned unemployed in their country find new jobs.
This developed as Saudi Ambassador Dr. Abdullah N.A. Al Bussairy wants KSA and the Philippines to work together in combating the threat of terrorism.
Bussairy said finding displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) find new employment will be on top of the assistance they are providing to repatriate those who have lost their jobs back into the country.
“The KSA a continues to help OFWs who have lost their jobs and the King has ordered free tickets for those wanting to go home. The King also ordered the companies where they used to work to help them look for other jobs,” Bussairy said.
He said that, aside from providing food and financial aid, King Salman Abdulaziz al Saud has issued a royal decree saying those with expired iqamas and the penalties that were incurred will be waived.
Iqama are work permits issued by a particular company to an OFW and if expired, there is no way by which a migrant worker could apply to other companies, unless waived by the King, thus facilitating the transfer of sponsorship.
“The Saudi-Philippine relation is built on strong foundations. One of them is that the Kingdom is hosting about 1 million Filipino workers in the Kingdom who are enjoying respect and appreciation At the same time, the Kingdom has utmost keenness in protesting their rights in general,” Bussairy said.
For her part, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Linglingay Lacanlale said the Philippine government highly appreciates how the KSA have been treating OFWs.
“Saudi Arabia is our top trading partner in the Middle East and we thank Saudi Arabia for hosting close to 900,000 OFWs there. We welcome the initiative of King Al Saud and their government to protect our OFWs and we are very grateful for their assistance in the repatriation and transfer of employees working in companies who are going through financial difficulties,” Lacanlale said.
She added that the country is looking forward to have more high-level meetings to engage in economic diplomacy initiative and jointly organized activities addressing security issues, including the global fight against terrorism.
Meanwhile, Bussairy said their country and the Philippines should work together in the fight against terrorism.
“Terrorism is also present in Saudi Arabia. They are bombing our mosques. Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and the world must fight terrorism around the world,” Bussairy said.
Bussairy was referring to suicide bombers who killed four Saudi security forces two months ago in an attack outside the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, one of the two holiest sites in Islam religion.
The bombings, which hit a car park near the sprawling mosque complex, was the latest in a run of attacks in the kingdom. They took place a day before the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Bussairy also launched Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, which the country expects will meet the aspirations of its people.
According to Bussairy, the vision will open great opportunities for the private sector to become partners of their government with both sides growing and KSA becoming of the biggest economies in the world.
Image credits: Recto Mercene