Manila: The Philippine government is preparing for the return of 15,000 Filipino workers from Iraq, a government spokesman said.

The workers had been deployed to Iraq despite a Philippine government ban onits citizens from travelling to the war-torn country.

The United States has called for service contractors in Iraq to repatriate foreign workers from countries which have banned workers from being deployed to that country.

In a memorandum dated July 20, Colonel Richard Nolan of the US Central Command said that US camps in Iraq will be inspected on August 9, to check for foreign workers. Contractors found violating the order will be blacklisted from future US government contracts.

Carmelita Dimzon, head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), said the Filipino workers to be repatriated from Iraq on August 9 will not be punished for violating the Philippine government's 2004 deployment ban.

"I don't think punishing them or sanctioning them at this point will be done," she said.

Dimzon said the OWWA will even form a welcome party to meet the returning workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

"We will meet them and find out what they want to do: to apply for overseas employment, to get local employment, or to engage in livelihood activities," Dimzon said.

"If they want to engage in business, they will be given a start-up capital of 10,000 pesos [Dh833]."

Dimzon said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration had announced it would place the workers on a priority list for redeployment abroad.

"There are still unfilled job orders in Qatar," Dimzon said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban Conejos said the Philippine government is not lifting its ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq.

"It's still dangerous there," he said. "We've always asked [other countries] to respect our ban. They've never heeded it until now."

Conejos said he had already communicated with the employers of the illegally deployed Filipino workers in Iraq.

There are around 10,000 and 15,000 Filipino workers in Iraq.

Appeal

Meanwhile, an unidentified Filipino worker has appealed to Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III to help avert the mass deportation of foreign workers from Iraq.

In an interview with the ABS-CBN Middle East Bureau, the worker claimed that many of them wanted to remain in Iraq.