Lebanon-bound job seekers told ban still valid

Manila: Vice-President Noli De Castro has appealed to Filipinos seeking employment abroad to stay away from illegal recruiters who offer jobs in Lebanon.

A government ban on working in Lebanon is still in force.

The appeal was made after a team consisting of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Bureau of Immigration prevented seven female Filipinos from travelling to Lebanon as tourists.

The seven Filipinas were preparing to board a flight to Singapore, from where they were scheduled to fly to Lebanon.

The illegal recruitment agency that promised them jobs will be investigated.

The Lebanon-bound Filipinas admitted to immigration and airport authorities that they had not been given job contracts or any other documentation as required by the POEA.

The Philippine government imposed a ban on working in Lebanon in 2006 after violence erupted between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

"The Lebanese government has not implemented any security measures to protect foreign workers there, so we are not lifting our ban," De Castro said in a statement.

Some 6,000 Filipino workers, mostly undocumented, were repatriated from Lebanon in 2000. But the DFA admitted that around 26,000 Filipino workers, mostly female domestic helpers, refused to be repatriated for fear of losing their jobs.

The DFA has admitted that the ban has not prevented Filipino job seekers from going to Lebanon.