EXECS TO CHECK PINOYS IN IRAQ
[PHOTO -Iraq War Ends: American Troops
Come Home]
MANILA,
FEBRUARY 2, 2012 (MALAYA) The
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday that it has upgraded the
crisis alert level in Iraq from level 2 to level 3 following the higher than
expected instances of terrorism and sectarian violence in the country following
the withdrawal of US military troops last December 2011.
The alert level covers all the regions of Iraq except the northern autonomous
region of Kurdistan, near the country's border withTurkey, which still remains
relatively peaceful.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario has given the Philippine
Embassy in Baghdad its marching orders to contact and urge all remaining
overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to avail of the DFA's repatriation offer.
The upgrade in the crisis alert level to level 3 entails the voluntary
repatriation of all Filipinos at the Philippine government's expense.
[PHOTO - War in Iraq: Generals' Last Helicopter Ride]
The DFA has also coordinated with the Department of Labor and Employment in
imposing a deployment ban to Iraq and a travel advisory has been released,
urging Filipinos not to travel to the affected areas while alert level 3 is in
place.
The Iraqi government earlier assured Del Rosario during his visit last
Saturday that it will provide all the necessary assistance the DFA might require
in processing the repatriation proceedings of Filipinos who wish to leave the
country.
Del Rosario was in Iraq to hold bilateral talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari and survey the security situation on the country after a spate of
bombing incidents in Baghdad.
"Zebari assured me that the Iraqi Government will be providing all the
assistance in order to protect our nationals and to bring them out of harm's
way, if needed," he said.
Embassy officials will also meet with the respective employers of Filipinos
who will choose to stay in Iraq, in order to review the security protocols of
those companies
There are currently 192 OFWs in Iraq's Kurdish Region and 279 in the rest of
the country who are registered with the Embassy. – Antonio
de los Reyes
FROM GMANEWS TV
Philippine Foreign Affairs chief to check on Pinoys in Iraq
By GMA News Online / Pinoy Abroad, on January 27th, 2012
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario (photo)
will visit Iraq this Sunday to assess the security and safety of Filipinos
amid the escalating violence there.
After the United States pulled out its forces from Iraq Del Rosario said the
violence there may have been worse than they expected.
In a news release of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Del Rosario
said, "We had expected some increase in violence after the US Forces pullout,
but not to the extent that it has happened. It has been reported, for instance,
that there have been 29 incidents of violence in the 15-day period from 1-15
January 2012, 14 of which were in Baghdad."
On January 24, four car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing 14 people and
wounding 75.
The US pulled out its troops last December 18.
While nearly 4,000 Filipinos were secured by the US military, the US troop
pullout has significantly reduced the number of Filipinos in Iraq and has also
resulted in a diminution of their security, the DFA noted.
"In addition, we further believe that there may be undocumented Filipinos
working as household service workers and we are, therefore, fully committed to
ensuring the safety and welfare of all our countrymen in Iraq," Del Rosario
said.
Del Rosario said the challenge after the US pullout is to find out how many
Filipinos are left, where they are, and the quality of their security.
"We believe that their security may have become questionable and we may need
to take them out of harm's way," he said.
Security assessment
Del Rosario added another objective of his visit to Iraq this Sunday is to
undertake a security assessment.
"We may have to declare a crisis level that would require repatriation," he
said.
He added the resumption in operations of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad
may help the DFA make on-the-ground assessments.
While in Iraq, Del Rosario will meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshyar
Zebari in Baghdad.
The officials who will accompany Del Rosario to Iraq are:
•DFA Undersecretary for Administration Rafael Seguis,
•DFA Undersecretary
for Migrant Workers'Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr., and
•DFA Assistant
Secretary for Middle East And African Affairs Petronila Garcia.
"We will convey our position and request the Iraqi Government to help us
protect our nationals," Del Rosario said. RJMD/VVP, GMA
News
WORLD NEWS
U.S. Out of Iraq By NICK SCHIFRIN (@nickschifrin)
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2011
In the end, there was no decisive battle, no peace treaty. The United
States' bloodiest conflict since Vietnam ended with a border crossing.
After nearly nine years, $800 billion, 4,500 American dead and an estimated
100,000 Iraqi dead, the war in Iraq is over -- at least for the U.S. military.
At just after 7:30 a.m. local, the last U.S. combat troops crossed from Iraq
into Kuwait along the same roads the United States used to invade the country in
2003.
One and a half million American men and women served in Iraq since that first
force arrived, back when the campaign was expected to be quick and greeted
warmly. But even today, the legacy of the war is in many ways still unknown: The
United States is leaving an Iraq where sectarian, regional, and political groups
still show willingness -- and sometimes a desire -- to resolve their differences
violently, and where many of the vital issues created by the invasion are still
unsettled.
Saddam Hussein is gone and the country and its armed forces have improved in
many ways since the peak of the war, in 2007. But Iraq is still struggling to
shake off the weighty baggage of decades of dictatorship and conflict. Many
Iraqis are hopeful for the future, but just as many are anxious, as their
devastated country faces a power vacuum and an expected explosion of oil wealth
and construction projects.
[Iraq War Ends: American Troops Come Home
For the United States, a war launched in the aftermath of 9/11 became one of
its most controversial. Repeated and extended deployments strained the military
and the country's budget.
More recently, because of the costs and struggles of the Iraq war, the United
States has changed how it intervenes overseas, shunning large-scale invasions
for relatively small interventions that aid local insurgent groups.
Still, today the final commander in Iraq said the war was worth it.
"If you're a loved one of someone that was killed in action or seriously
wounded in action, there are no words that can make you ever believe that this
was worth it," Gen. Lloyd Austin said today in Camp Adder, from where the final
combat troops left.
"However, if you really think about what's happened here -- we removed a
brutal dictator that killed, tortured hundreds of thousands of people over time
and it provided the Iraqi people opportunities that they have not seen in their
lifetime," Austin said. "If you consider the fact that we have a young democracy
in a very critical region, a region that's critical to the United States of
America -- yes, it was worth it."
Inside the seat of power in Baghdad -- the same heavily fortified Green Zone
that the United States made its headquarters after the invasion -- the
government expressed thanks for the sacrifices of U.S. troops. But it is
struggling with sectarian tensions and a tenuous power-sharing agreement that
reflect the fragility of the political process here.
The last combat troops weren't even out of the country before the largest
member of the government's coalition pulled out of parliament. The Sunni-backed
group Iraqiya said Friday it was suspending participation for two weeks because
of a conflict with the Shia prime minister, who has consolidated power by
keeping the defense and interior ministry portfolios to himself.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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