665 Filipinos evacuated to Egypt and Saudi Arabia during crisis Employment agency says there is big demand for skilled workers MANILA: The Philippine government is preparing the profiles of Filipinos evacuated from Sudan for the Saudi and US job market, the Department of Migrant Workers said on Thursday. Nearly 700 mostly skilled professionals and their family members have left Sudan since last week in mass evacuations organized during a ceasefire between warring factions. They were among thousands of foreigners who have left the country since April 15, when deadly fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries known as the Rapid Support Forces. Most of the evacuated Filipinos were taken to Egypt by Philippine government officials, or rescued by Saudi security forces and taken to safety in Jeddah. Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople, who is coordinating evacuation efforts, said that teachers, nurses and engineers were among those evacuated. Ople said that the DMW was already preparing their profiles for employers in Saudi Arabia and the US. “There are employers in the US and also in the cruise ship industry and in Saudi Arabia that are very much interested and would like to see profiles of our workers from Sudan,” she said. “For Saudi Arabia, we are working closely with PEACEME, a recruitment industry association geared towards employment in KSA as well as with the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development.” PEACETIME is the Philippine Employment Agencies and Associated for Corporate Employees in the Middle East, which serves as the Philippine government’s partner in the employment of overseas Filipino workers. “We just recently received an instruction and request from DMW ... that the displaced workers should be assisted by PEACEME in terms of getting them jobs,” PEACEME president Arnold Mamaclay told Arab News on Thursday. “We are waiting for the profiles of the workers ... There’s big demand in Saudi Arabia.” Saudi Arabia is already home to more than 800,000 Filipino expats and, according to Mamaclay many more will be able to find work there, especially if they are skilled professionals. “If they are interested there will be opportunities for them,” he said. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has said that 178 of 665 Filipinos evacuated from Sudan have already returned to their home country. The rest are assisted by Philippine missions in Cairo in Jeddah before they return home. A further 146 Filipinos remain in Sudan, 53 of whom have registered to be repatriated.