Philippines halts deployment of new OFWs to Iran

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June 19, 2025 | 4:57pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has banned the deployment of newly hired overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iran as the conflict between Iran and Israel continues, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced Thursday, June 19.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the government has raised Alert Level 2 in Iran — a “restriction phase” under the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) classification. The designation indicates “real threats to the life, security, and property of Filipinos arising from internal disturbance, instability, or external threat.”

This is the same alert level applied to Israel, where the deployment ban on new hires has been in effect since 2023, following the country’s intensified siege on Palestine.

“That means new hires are prohibited. Those who are returning can, technically speaking,” Cacdac said during a press briefing.

However, flight restrictions across the region — stemming from Israel’s strike on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks — have made it difficult for returning OFWs to travel.

Travel to Jordan, Lebanon also flagged

The DMW has also cautioned recruitment agencies against sending workers to Jordan, a country bordering Israel.

While no alert level has been declared there, limited airspace access poses logistical hurdles. Even if migrant workers are sent there, they would just be turned back, Cacdac explained.

All agency recruitment efforts in the region are now on red alert.

“We have heightened the requirement to mandatorily submit monitoring reports and deployment lists and enhanced welfare monitoring,” Cacdac said. “We’ve also asked for updated contingency plans tailored to the current conflict.”

In Lebanon, Alert Level 3 remains in place due to its own skirmishes with Israel in 2024.

Seafarer warning and stranded OFWs

So far, no Filipino seafarers have been directly affected by the Iran-Israel conflict. However, shipowners have been instructed not to assign Filipino crew to vessels heading to high-risk destinations such as Yemen and Haiti.

The DMW identified two regional hubs where Filipino workers are currently stranded: at least 58 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Of that number, 15 were bound for Jordan and 33 for Israel. Four of the Israel-bound Filipinos are already en route back to the Philippines.