DFA raises Alert Level 3 over Iraq

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced today that it raised Alert Level 3 over Iraq (voluntary repatriation) because of the higher than expected surge in terrorist and sectarian violence following the withdrawal of United States (US) military forces in December 2011.

According to a DFA press release, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F Del Rosario has given marching orders to the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad to contact and urge all remaining overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the country, to avail of the DFA’s repatriation offer.

Only the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, near the country’s border with Turkey, is not covered by the new alert level.

Under Alert Level 3, Filipinos who wish to leave Iraq are offered voluntary repatriation at government expense. A ban on the further deployment of OFWs is automatically imposed in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Filipinos are likewise advised not to travel to the affected areas while Alert Level 3 is in effect.

According to the embassy’s records, there are currently 192 OFWs in Iraq’s Kurdish Region and 279 in the rest of the country.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in turn, assured Secretary Del Rosario that their government is ready to provide any assistance to the Philippines’ repatriation efforts. Embassy officials will also meet with the respective employers of Filipinos who will choose to stay in Iraq so they can review the security protocols of those companies.

Image provided by Fotolia via the Microsoft Office website.