MANILA – Two Filipina workers stranded in Saudi Arabia went missing after they were picked up by immigration people in Riyadh City, Migrante-Middle East reported on Tuesday.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante’s regional coordinator, said the two women – Sheila Mae Masulit and Babae Ramalan – from taken from their shelter. Before disappearing, the duo managed to phone their fellow workers to say that they were assaulted and molested after refusing to sign documents written in Arabic.
Masulit also phoned her husband who is working in the municipality of Al Kharj, about 120 km. from Riyadh, and sought help.
“The two conveyed that they were being forced to sign documents in Arabic and because they refused to sign the documents, both were slapped and allegedly molested. The two said they were not at Jawazat (immigration) office, but were being held in an isolated room,” Monterona told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said before the women were picked up, the Philippine labor office told them to proceed to the immigration office for their deportation formalities.
Monterona said he and other Migrante officers reported the incident to the Philippine Overseas Labor and Welfare Office in Riyadh, and that they sought the assistance of the Filipino officials to locate the missing women.
“We have also mobilized our members and networks to visit all police stations near the deportation center to look for the two OFWs. Both Sheila Mae and Babae’s mobile phones can no longer be contacted,” he said.
It was not immediately known whether the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi embassy in Manila were aware or has been informed about the missing Filipinas. No other details were made available by Migrante about the women’s background. (Mindanao Examiner)
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