THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said there is no set time or schedule for when the Filipinos in Haiti will be repatriated.
This is despite the civil unrest due to gang violence in the country.
In an interview with SMNI News, DMW Officer-In-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac said they are currently arranging a charter flight for Filipino workers because no flights are allowed to leave Haiti, and land travel to the capital of Port-au-Prince is also prohibited due to intense gang activities.
“As soon as possible, I can’t pinpoint the exact date but if we can arrange it this week, it could be possible to return home this week,” Atty. Hans Leo Cacdac, Officer In-Charge, DMW said.
The 63 Filipinos are under voluntary repatriation. This comes after Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo approved the recommendation to declare Alert Level 3 for Filipinos in Haiti.
Cacdac also confirmed that there are 154 Filipinos in the Caribbean Island Nation, most of whom work as technical, skilled, or professional workers.
There have been no reported Filipino casualties or injuries in Haiti.
Cacdac also clarified that since 2017, there has been a deployment ban in Haiti due to the lack of adequate laws from the Haitian government to protect deployed Overseas Filipino Workers there.
There are also many reasons why, despite the deployment ban, many Filipinos continue to work there.
Some may be from countries not directly originating from the Philippines, or others may have been working in Haiti long before the deployment ban was implemented.
“There has been no deployment there [in Haiti] since 2017. The ban continues, and many of our compatriots seem to have entered there [in Haiti] undocumented,” Cacdac added.
The DMW is preparing the assistance for Overseas Filipino Workers in Haiti as per the president’s directive.
“We will provide them with financial assistance similar to other areas we have provided, livelihood upon their return, and then TESDA, the skills partnered with DG Mangadadato and the team at TESDA, and of course, DSWD also has a livelihood package and psycho-social counseling for those who have experienced trauma,” he said.
