October 7th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The Philippine government on Monday imposed a total ban on deployment of workers to South Sudan over what it said is an “unstable peace and security situation” and “escalating violence” in the African country that threatened Filipinos’ safety.
The country’s Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement on Monday afternoon that the decision to ban deployment of workers to the world’s youngest nation followed a raising of ‘Alert Level 4’ by the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
According to a resolution issued by the the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the total ban on the processing and deployment of all overseas Filipino workers bound for South Sudan would remain in place “until further notice.”
Department of Labor and Employment said the alert levels for South Sudan was raised from level 2, “due to the upsurge in violence that erupted between the forces allied with South Sudan President Salva Kiir and the Protection Unit from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in [Opposition] of rebel leader and former South Sudan vice president Riek Machar.”
The DFA states that Alert Level 4 means “evacuation/mandatory repatriation.” This alert level is issued “when there is large-scale internal conflict or full-blown external attack.”
The total deployment ban comes as the DFA said South Sudan was non-compliant with the review of post certificates in line with Republic Act (RA) 10022 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act.
RA 10022 mandates the DFA to issue certifications on countries’ compliance with “any of the conditions on the deployment of Filipino workers.”
