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2,000 OFWs in Afghanistan lose jobs amid US pullout

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THE 2,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in two American military bases in Afghanistan will soon be rendered jobless as the US and Nato alliances start withdrawing their military forces from Kabul.

The Filipinos’ role in America’s war of “Enduring Freedom” comes to an end as some 2,500 American troops leave Bagram and Kandahar starting May 1; the phased pullout is expected to end in September 2021. That end coincides with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, blamed on Islamic extremists led by Osama bin Laden, who had found sanctuary for years in Afghanistan.

The US and Nato forces have had a presence in Afghanistan for almost 20 years. At its peak, their joint presence numbered 120,000 troops.

The withdrawal comes amid escalating violence, with Afghan security forces on high alert for reprisal attacks by the Taliban terrorists.

There are 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan who are ending what President Joe Biden called “the forever war,” although the number varies and is currently about 1,000 more than the official figure.

Also, up to 7,000 foreign forces remain in the coalition, majority of them part of the Nato troops.

The alliance’s withdrawal signals the end of the OFWs presence inside the two military bases, where, for almost two decades, they were the highest paid group of Filipino migrant workers, says recruitment consultant, Manny Geslani.

Filipinos working inside US bases in Afghanistan will be slowly returning to the Philippines, Geslani said, following the US military’s withdrawal.

The deployment of American troops in Afghanistan started two years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon.

Geslani said the remaining Filipinos in Kandahar will leave  this week as the base ends all military operations by May 1, 2021. In Bagram, many civilian contractors have also starting packing up, including the rest of the OFWs.

A few hundred Filipinos will also lose their jobs within the Nato bases as Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had agreed to withdraw roughly 7,000 forces in Afghanistan, matching Biden’s decision to begin a final pullout by the first of May.

The OFWs have been working in Bagram and Kandahar almost as soon as the US started its war against the Taliban in 2003.

The US formed a coalition of countries like the UK, France, Canada and other NATO members, to engage the Taliban.

The remaining OFW in Bagram and Kandahar airfields are doing mostly logistical and maintenance work for the US Armed Forces.

Geslani said some of the OFWs have returned to the country, while the OFW’s international contractors have also finished their contracts.

The  signing of the deal with the Taliban  in February 2020 initiated a phased withdrawal of the roughly 12,000 American military personnel who were still in the country. The agreement also included a prisoner exchange and direct negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government over the country’s political future.

Read full article on BusinessMirror

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