King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud donated SR100,000,000 or P1.2 billion for Pinoys and other nationals
Overseas Filipino Workers stranded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after being layed off in work has received a temporary relief after receiving aid from the king of the country.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia Embassy in Manila said King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has donated SR100,000,000 or P1.2 billion for the needs of Filipinos and other foreign workers stranded there.
According to reports, anywhere between 9,000 to 20,000 Filipino workers could be currently affected in the country, after the massive retrenchment there triggered by the drop in oil prices.
Several workers – especially those working in construction companies – have been stranded without pay in the kingdom during recent months. Some have also been struggling to get food, as per officials.
A statement from the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Manila said King Salman donated the fund “in view of humanitarian consideration and keenness of the kingdom’s government in protecting the rights of foreign workers, including stranded overseas Filipino workers.”
The money will cover food, medicine and housing for the stranded workers.
“This royal magnanimity is considered unique of its kind as no government of any state receiving foreign workers in the entire world in the past has shouldered this kind of burden resulting from deployment of foreign workers in companies in the private sector on the ground that these are private labor cases,” the embassy said.
Meanwhile, Filipino and Saudi officials are working together to help thousands of stranded workers under a directive from King Salman, according Iric Arribas, charge d’affaires at the Philippine embassy.
Arribas said the situation in the oil-rich country regarding foreign workers “has turned into a humanitarian crisis.”
Workers were unable to renew their residency permits, meaning they could not leave the country and could not access their bank accounts, he said. Some living in company accommodation “did not have food.”
Around 1.8 million overseas workers from the Philippines are estimated to be based in Saudi Arabia.