Riyadh Police Hold 3 Filipino Protesters Briefly

Three Filipino workers were detained by Riyadh police yesterday for protesting outside the Philippine Embassy. Later they were released.

The three workers were among a group of about 150 workers who gathered in front of the Philippine Embassy yesterday morning to protest against the alleged inability of the Filipino diplomatic missions to help illegal workers go home.

“The police responsible for ensuring security at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh picked up a few of the workers and later released them,” Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago told Arab News here yesterday. Tago said: “There is no justification to organize any protest or demonstration in front of the embassy, when we are doing our best to help solve all problems.”

“I don’t know why the community organizations decided to hold protests,” said Tago, adding that all Filipino community organizations, including Migrante, are illegal in Saudi Arabia. He said workers from other countries did not protest outside their embassies at the Diplomatic Quarter. He said over 7,500

Filipino workers have so far registered for repatriation at the embassy and the Jeddah-based consulate.

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