The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has sent a special envoy to Iraq to assess the security situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) there. The action came days after the United States ordered the pull out of Filipinos working in the Middle Eastern country. Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu left for Iraq Thursday to assess the conditions and to recommend guidelines upon his return next week, the DFA said in an article posted on its website Friday. Cimatu, who also heads the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee, will discuss with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Department of Labor and Employment to (DOLE) on some action plans, according to the DFA. The Philippine government has been enforcing a travel ban to Iraq since 2004 as a result of the US-led war. Despite the ban, some 6,000 Filipinos were able or continue to work there, DFA records show. The US ordered early last week its military contractors in Iraq to repatriate all foreign workers from countries that have issued a deployment ban. Filipino workers in Iraq have long requested the Philippine government to lift the five
