MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has opted to impose a total ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Iraq. “The board has resolved to impose a total deployment ban on the processing and deployment of all OFWs, including crew changes and shore leaves of Filipino seafarers in Iraq,” Bello said. But the POEA still prohibited the deployment of first time and returning Filipino household service workers (HSWs) to Iraq. However, the government admitted that despite the deployment ban, Filipino workers continue to enter Iraq illegally. In fact, the government said 90 percent of Filipino workers in Iraq are undocumented.

Source: Philippine Star January 14, 2020 16:30 UTC