PH ATN Delegation Spread Christmas Cheers to Filipinos in Bahrain

Foreign Affiars Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Sarah Lou Y. Arriola speaks to beneficiaries of the Flexi Permit Financial Assistance Program at the office of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority of Bahrain during the distribution of the Flexi Permit Cards. (Manama PE photo)

BAHRAIN 10 January 2020 –– Special Envoy for the Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Mission to Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Mr. Robert Eric A. Borje and Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola led a delegation from the Office of the President and the Department of Foreign Affairs in their visit to Bahrain from 25 to 28 December 2019 to celebrate the Christmas season with the Filipino community.

Undersecretary Arriola led the distribution of new Flexi Permit cards for 17 Filipino beneficiaries of the Philippine Embassy’s Financial Assistance Program on 26 December 2019. Under the said program, the Philippine Government sponsored the Flexi Permit application fee plus the first two monthly fees of each beneficiary, whose Flexi Permits provided them a pathway to once again becoming regularworkers in Bahrain. This is in line with President Duterte’s directive for the government to exert efforts in regularizing the status of undocumented workers in their respective host countries.

The following day, the delegation joined the Christmas Community Program organized by the Philippine Embassy in the Kingdom of Bahrain on 27 December 2019. The event was marked with fun games, singing and dancing, gift-giving, and a festive lunch for the wards housed at the Embassy shelter, patients with medical condition, and children with their parents under the Embassy’s OPLAN Kabataan Program.

Special Envoy Borje and Undersecretary Arriola delivered messages of assurances that the Philippine Government stands ready to assist overseas Filipinos in distress. They toured the Embassy shelter to see that the living conditions of the wards are suitable. As a gesture of care and compassion, they handed cash gifts to the shelter wards and outpatient medical ATN clients, and gave Christmas presents to the delight of the children. It was also announced during the event that each beneficiary will receive an additional special gift from President Rodrigo Duterte.

To cap off the visit, the delegation visited Filipino patients confined at the King Hamad University Hospital and the Salmaniya Medical Complex on their last day of the visit. Special Envoy Borje and Undersecretary Arriola personally visited the patients and talked about their medical condition, assuring the Philippine Government’s support for their well-being, and presenting them with cash gifts while they recuperate from illness.

The visit to Bahrain is part of the delegation’s region-wide mission to Tunisia, Saudia Arabia and Bahrain in order to reach out to overseas Filipinos who are not fortunate to spend their Christmas with their families in the Philippines. To ease their sadness, the delegation shared the heartfelt holiday greetings of President Duterte and Senator Christopher Bong Go specially dedicated to Filipinos in the Middle East Region.

The mission to Bahrain also involved the delegation’s engagements and meetings with government officials of Bahrain including an audience with Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa who praised the Filipino community’s contributions to Bahrain’s national development and committed to support the Embassy’s programs to assist Filipinos in need in Bahrain.

The success of the mission largely depended on the shared values of the Philippines and Bahrain in the area of migration, and the close relationship between President Duterte and King Hamad, who are guiding both countries toward stronger partnership in providing undocumented migrants continuous access to a pathway to legalization, recognizing the legal rights of previously undocumented Filipino children, and advancing regional and international cooperation in fighting human trafficking and the Kafala system. END

Wards of the Philippine Embassy in Manama’s Shelter render a dance performance. (Manama PE photo)

Charge d' Affaires, a.i. Maria Paz Cortes and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Sarah Lou Y.  Arriola and Special Envoy Borje give Christmas presents to children under the OPLAN Kabataan Program of the Philippine Embassy in the Kingdom of Bahrain. (Manama PE photo)

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Sarah Lou Y. Arriola comforts patients suffering from illness at hospitals in Bahrain. (Manama PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.manamape.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinBahrain.