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Deployment of Filipinos to Tengiz is suspended
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Posted on Nov 03 2006
To ensure the safety of overseas Filipino workers in Kazakhstan, the Philippine government has temporarily suspended the deployment of OFWs bound for Tengiz, according to the Department of Labor and Employment Information and Publication Service.
The government also suspended sending a Composite Team to assess the situation and ensure the well-being of OFWs in the area.
Acting Labor Secretary Danilo P. Cruz issued DOLE Department Order No. 76-06, Series of 2006, for immediate implementation on behalf of Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo D. Brion, who is currently on an official mission to Japan.
“In view of the disturbing situation in Tengiz, Kazakhstan, that might adversely affect the security and welfare of our Filipino workers, the processing and deployment of Filipino workers to any worksite in Tengiz is hereby suspended temporarily, until further order,” said Cruz.
Tengiz had been the site of a recent massive riot reportedly pitting locals against Turkish workers that injured 300 people, two of them seriously.
DOLE said that none of the estimated 450 documented OFWs in the area, comprising half of around 900 OFWs in the entire country, had been directly involved in the unrest.
However, Cruz said, security measures have already been instituted to protect Filipino workers. “Bechtel, the OFWs’ main employer in Tengiz, had already moved them to a safer, exclusive dormitory, while the Kazakhstan government also augmented the existing security force,” he said.
Cruz also disclosed that the Philippine government’s joint Composite Team composed of the Philippine Ambassador to Pakistan Jaime Yambao; Riyadh-based labor attaché Rustico de la Fuente, Department of Foreign Affairs Consul General Agnes Cervantes, and representatives of Bechtel and the recruitment agency, International Skills Development, also flew to Kazakhstan last Friday.
A dialog with OFWs in Tengiz was held onsite to fully ascertain their conditions amidst the situation in the area. This dialog aims to ensure the OFWs’ safety.
