By JV, GMA News

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday has instructed the dependents of its Filipino diplomats and “non-essential" staff at the Philippine Embassy in Libya to board the ship chartered by the government when it docks in the capital city of Tripoli on Saturday. 

In a release, the DFA said its Embassy officials’ dependents and non-essential staff will join some 750 other Filipinos, which MV Ionian queen is supposed to fetch in Tripoli on Saturday to be taken to safety in the island of Crete.

“Officials and staff of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli who are assisting in the repatriation efforts, as well as the six DFA-Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) augmentation teams deployed in the region, will remain," the DFA said. 

It likewise urged the remainder of some 30,000 Filipinos in Libya – the figure is based on records from the Philippine Red Cross – to avail of the repatriation program of the government in light of the continuing mass unrest and armed clashes there. 

In a related development, the DFA said it held a joint coordination meeting on Friday afternoon with the DOLE, in efforts to intensify the repatriation and relocation operations for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in critical areas in Libya. 

According to the DFA, six combined DFA-DOLE teams are assisting Filipinos in Tripoli and in various crossing and entry points in Djerba, the Libyan-Tunisian border, Al-Sallum in Egypt, and the Mediterranean islands of Crete and Malta. 

The two departments have likewise chartered airplanes and booked seats in commercial flights for the Filipino repatriates. 

The DFA earlier said it is extending its repatriation operations by one more week, after announcing a self-imposed deadline on Saturday when it said it will be able to complete the repatriation and relocation of OFWs and their families from Libya's coastal cities. (See: DFA to extend repatriation of OFWs from Libya for at least 1 week)

Deadline too short?

Global OFW alliance Migrante International, however, scored the DFA for setting such a short deadline for the evacuation and repatriation when only some 1,900 Filipinos from Libya, or just six percent of the estimated total number, have returned to the Philippines.

"They are setting a deadline that could be deadly for the remaining Filipinos in Libya. Ano ang balak nila sa mga natitira pang mga kababayan natin doon, iwanan na lang?" said Migrante chairperson Garry Martinez. (What do they intend to do with the rest of our fellow Filipinos who are still there, just leave them behind?)

According to Martinez, there are at least 15,000 more Filipinos who are waiting to be rescued. 

The group cited a report that there are almost 1,000 Filipinos stranded at the Dubai airport alone, with only about half of them expected to be flown to Manila on Friday. 

Martinez said majority of the repatriated OFWs were brought back to Manila by their employers and recruitment agencies. 

"Even DFA Acting Sec. [Albert] del Rosario's 'road show in the desert' did not result in massive repatriation. Umuwi pa rin naman siya dito mag-isa at walang kasama ni isang OFW [He came back by himself with not even a single OFW in tow.] So why is the DFA setting a deadline now? Do they feel that they have done enough?" Martinez explained.

Martinez also bared Migrante’s plan to stage internationally coordinated protest actions against the government’s neglect of OFWs on March 17, the death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion.

For migrant workers’ groups, the case of Contemplacion, a domestic helper who was executed in Singapore in 1995 for murder, has come to symbolize the OFWs’ plight and struggle for rights in other countries.