BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipino workers in Iraq, except in the Kurdistan area, because of the worsening political insecurity in the strife-torn country.
Crisis alert level three was raised in the whole of Iraq—except the Kurdistan area, which is under alert level 1—weeks ago.
DFA spokesman Charles Jose called on Filipino workers, especially about 154 who are based in Baghdad, to leave the Middle Eastern country.
There are 900 Filipino workers in Iraq, Jose said, although most of them are based in Kurdistan and employed as construction and oil rig workers.
Kurdistan remains under alert level 1 as the situation there remains “relatively calm and stable.”
Iraq reached out to the United States and asked it to launch air strikes on Sunni insurgents as they edged closer to fully controlling Iraq’s largest oil refinery.
The insurgents also continued to fight against troops trying to retake the city of Tal Afar.
The war that seeks to redefine the region’s borders entered its second week.