Four Filipinos, one of them a woman, were sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for drug possession, according to a newspaper report. The report by UAE-based Khaleej Times said two other Filipinos were also fined Dh1,000 (P12,168) each for not reporting the matter to authorities. Records from the Court of First Instance showed the four were caught in possession of 0.185 grams of amphetamine. The four were not named. Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it has facilitated the repatriation of 113 distressed Filipinos from Jeddah and Qatar. Quoting Consul General in Jeddah Ezzedin Tago, the DFA said 76 Filipinos momentarily housed at the Haj Terminal before they came home in four batches during the Lent season.. “Thirty-six repatriates comprised the first batch, which arrived in Manila on March 31, while the second batch of nine arrived the next day. The third batch of 22 Filipinos arrived on April 2, and another nine arrived the next day,” the DFA said in its website (www.dfa.gov.ph). It said the repatriates were housed at the Haj Terminal, a center run by the Consulate General and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), while their travel documents were being processed. The DFA said this is a part of an arrangement with the Saudi government to keep Filipinos from the heat and from loitering under the Kandara Bridge. The Kandara Distrcit overpass, often called as the Kandara bridge, has become “an unofficial international transport terminal” and a “vice den” where illegal immigrants and overstayers congregate, the Saudi Gazette reported Tuesday. At least 37 distressed workers were also repatriated from Qatar on April 8. They were met at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by Executive Director Enrico Fos of the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) and his staff. |The Philippine embassy in Qatar, OWWA and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office of the Embassy helped in their repatriation, it said.
