RETURNING overseas Filipino workers (OFW) could now freely travel again to and from Iraq after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) eased their deployment restrictions.
Last Thursday, POEA issued its governing board resolution No. 09, series of 2021, which lifted the deployment ban for OFWs, who have existing employment contracts in Iraq, which conform with Philippine and Iraqi laws.
Other requirements for the said OFWs to be granted the exemption includes presenting proof of recent stay in Iraq and they will return to the same employer.
Their workplace must also be based outside the following “no-go zones” in Iraq: the Province of Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Mosul; Sadr City, Baghdad Province; Amedi, Erbil Province; and, Mahkmour, Erbil province.
The employers of the concerned OFWs must also have signed an undertaking guaranteeing they have secure work premises and be provided sponsorship and facilitation of their repatriation, which will cover both visa and airfare, to their personnel.
The returning OFW should also not be a household service worker.
POEA stressed that the deployment ban for newly-hired OFWs, who are bound for Iraq, will remain for now.