As many as 4,000 Filipinos working at American military installations across the Middle East may be forced out of their jobs amid continued conflict in the region that has left dozens of US bases damaged and understaffed.
Migration expert Emmanuel Geslani cited international reports indicating that Iranian airstrikes damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures and pieces of equipment across American military sites in the region — hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, radar systems, communications facilities, and air defense equipment.
A Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery put the total damage across 15 military sites at between $10 billion and $20 billion.
“The threat of air attacks rendered some of the US bases in the region too dangerous to staff at normal levels,” Geslani said.
Filipino workers are stationed at US military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Geslani warned that continued escalation could sweep affected OFWs into a widening repatriation wave already underway.
“A large number of OFWs there may be joining the close to 9,000 OFWs repatriated from the Middle East,” he said.
Data from the Department of Migrant Workers shows that 9,038 OFWs and their dependents have already been brought home from the region as a result of the conflict.
