OFW FORUM
Jun Concepcion
When extremist Taliban forces took control of the Afghanistan capital city of Kabul on August 15, over 100 Filipinos were trapped in the war-torn country. Since most of them worked for American and British military contractors, deemed by the Taliban as among their worst enemies, the stranded Filipinos have every reason to fear for their lives, especially if caught later by the extremists.
As of August 20, only 35 of the stranded Filipinos have returned home, through a government-chartered flight via Qatar, and 90 remained trapped in Kabul, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Hans Cacdac said on Friday.
With all commercial flights to and from Kabul suspended, it is unclear what fate awaits the 90 Filipinos that remain stranded in the war-torn country. Their uncertain fate comes following the hasty withdrawal of US forces who helped government forces fight the Taliban insurgents for 20 years.
Clearly, mounting mass evacuation missions are far more problematic than those portrayed in Hollywood movies.
Tens of thousands of terrified Afghans rushed and swamped Kabul airport on August 15 in a desperate bid to flee the country and escape the feared atrocities by the Taliban. Between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban controlled much of Afghanistan, and enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, that deprived women most rights, including education and employment.
Afghanistan’s political disaster underscores the precarious situation of OFWs in the Middle East whenever they get caught in armed hostilities in the region.
Just like in past conflicts in the region, the government’s strategy and response in Afghanistan have been mostly ad hoc and relied mainly on whatever transport modes are available. Though the number of trapped Filipinos in Afghanistan is relatively small at just over 100, the government did not have any readily available mechanism to get them out of harm’s way en masse in the war-ravaged country.
Using Afghanistan as a starting point, it is fairly easy to conjure much worse nightmare scenarios involving OFWs trapped and stranded in other armed conflicts elsewhere in the region.
In the event, for instance, that Saudi Arabia, which hosts about one million OFWs, gets hit by civil unrest and the need arises for a mass evacuation of Filipinos there, what will the government do to respond to that major crisis? If the government can’t even evacuate in one go 100-odd stranded Filipinos in Afghanistan, what can it do if hundreds of thousands pressed for mass evacuation?
Other hard questions should be addressed in the face of simmering conflicts in different parts of the Middle East. Should the government continue deploying its nationals across the Middle East amid continuing risks of armed conflicts? Or should it instead start winding down deployments in favor of other regions, like the Asia Pacific where armed conflicts are rare?
What contingencies, if any, can be drawn up for the hasty mass evacuation of OFWs from Middle East countries? Can military or commercial aircraft be mobilized at short notice for this purpose?
Why is there still no mass evacuation mechanism in place despite the fact that deployments of OFWs to the Middle East started way back in the 1970s? Clearly, this is a major oversight.
Addressing these questions ought to be done sooner than later – before the next armed conflict erupts that might require mass evacuation of beleaguered OFWs. Qatar, for instance, which hosts over 260,000 Filipinos as of 2017 is engaged in an off-and-on dispute with next-door neighbor Saudi Arabia. Israel, which hosts about 31,000 Filipinos, remains locked in simmering conflict with the Palestinians and Iranian-supported armed groups in Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Civil war continues to bedevil Libya.
OFW rights advocate and California-based Amanda Bueno said the government ought to rethink its OFW deployments to the Middle East. “Why put in harm’s way Filipino nationals? Why not stop deployments to the Middle East ?” she said.
Saudi Arabia-based OFW rights advocate Eli Mua said that while some measures could be taken by OFW leaders during crisis, mass evacuation can be problematic.
Joseph Glenn Gumpal, president of the Samahang Pilipino sa Afghanistan, underscored this point as he disclosed that a Philippine Airlines chartered plane scrapped its scheduled pick up of 80 Filipinos last Thursday night at Kabul airport as it was swamped by thousands of Afghans who want to flee the country.
Mua said that in times of crises in the Middle East, the government should tap volunteer OFW leaders for tasks, like monitoring and assessment of the situation, mobilization and even in drawing up contingency plans. Eventually, the government should adopt a one-stop solution via a Department of OFWs instead of relying on separate agencies, notably the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and its attached agencies, he added.
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