To Hell and Back: A Stranded OFW’s Nightmare

“Sabi pa sa akin, you can go home but through backdoor,’ (He told me that I could go home through the back door.)” Noel said.

In January 2008, Noel stopped working after the company gave his two months salary and SR1,200 supposedly for his plane ticket. But plane tickets at that time would cost not less than SR1,500. He asked the help of the POLO to facilitate his return to the Philippines but he got a negative response.
“Di daw ako makakauwi. Finished contract… Patay na dati kong employer… Di na-transfer (sa bagong employer)… Walang iqama” (They told me I would not be able to go home. My contract was finished, my former employer is dead, and they were not able to transfer me to a new employer… I had no igama), said Noel, relaying his conversation with Labor Attaché Adam Musa. Then he realized that the reason his employer gave him his passport freely was to avoid any responsibility in paying his expired iqama for his exit.

He added that Musa told him he should first file a case at the POLO, which will work it out with his ‘employer. “Wala tayong magagawa, ganyan talaga policy ng Saudi” (There’s nothing we can do, that’s Saudi policy), Musa told him, adding that it would take six months to fix his problem.

Back door or “due process”?

He was not sure if there would be prospective employers who would pay for his iqama penalty. And he would not endure six months of unemployment so Noel decided to use the backdoor channel. “Kumausap ako ng fixer, nagkalat lang naman sila sa paligid ng Consulate” (I talked to a fixer, there are many of them around the Consulate), Noel told Bulatlat, noting that bribes ranges from SR600-800 in Jeddah and could climb up to SR1,500 if the deportee is from Dammam.

As advised by his fixer, he sent home all his things including all his identification cards, documents and passport. He joined other runaways at the Al Kandhara Bridge. Contrary to their expectations, the Jawassat (police) did not arrest them. “May order pala si (Consul Ezzedin) Tago na ‘wag dadamputin ang mga Pilipino, pati y’ung mga nagpapanggap na nag-u-umrah” (It turned out that Consul Ezzedin Tago had an order not to arrest Filipinos, including those pretending to participate in the umrah. [symbolic rituals performed during a pilgrimage to Mecca any time of the year])

Some of them, including Noel, even pretended to be Indonesian pilgrims but they only received whips from the police. Jeddah, the second largest city in KSA, is the gateway for Muslim pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Mecca.

In a March 7 letter to the office of Sen. Mar Roxas and Migrante International, Usec. Esteban Conejos of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) admitted that many Filipino nationals trying to depart from Saudi use the “backdoor” channel. After obtaining identity certificates and travel documents under assumed names, they would get the service of the fixers to facilitate their exit as Muslim pilgrims.

In the letter, the DFA said there were 922 overstaying Filipino nationals deported to the Philippines in 2007 who had used the “backdoor.”

Meanwhile, Tago offered them “due process” which surprisingly would take them only four to six days. Tago also promised that they would not be sent back to their employers. But only 24 of them initially gave in to the alluring offer. The rest marched to the Consulate and held their camp-out. For that “due process,” they filled out a form and gave the Consulate their families’ contact details.

They were surprised though when Tago brought them to the Jawassat on Feb. 9. “Di daw kami ipapahuli sa Jawassat, dinala naman kami sa Jawassat” (They said they would not let the Jawassat arrest us, but we were brought to the Jawassat), said the puzzled Noel. Tago allegedly reasoned that they have to talk to the Jawassat head for “internal arrangements.” Noel added that Tago even said that their employers agreed to send them back home.