(Eagle News)–The government has imposed a total ban on the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers to South Sudan.
In a statement, the Department of Labor and Employment said the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, in a resolution, decided to impose the ban also on the processing of the documents of OFWs bound for the country “until further notice.”
The board is chaired by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
Bello said the ban was imposed after the Department of Foreign Affairs said an alert level 4 was hoisted over the country since July 19 due to the ongoing unrest.
An alert level 4 means there is a mandatory repatriation of Filipino workers in the affected area.
The DFA reiterated the declaration after the POEA requested for a clarification.
According to DOLE, the DFA had raised the alert in South Sudan from alert level 2 due to what it said was the upsurge in violence between the forces allied with President Salva Kiir and the Protection Unit from the SPLA in Operation (SPLA-IO) of Vice President Riek Machar.
In imposing the ban, the POEA governing board also noted the confirmation from the DFA that South Sudan is non-compliant with the “review of posts certification pursuant to Section 3 of R.A. 10022 due to the current unstable peace and order on the country.”
