Despite risk and a government ban, Filipinos line up for Iraq jobs

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Thursday, September 2, 2004

MANILA — Despite a presidential order banning Filipino workers from going to Iraq, hundreds of Filipinos still line up every day at employment agencies here, hoping for a chance to work in that strife-torn country.
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Since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the ban in July after Iraqi militants kidnapped a Filipino truck driver, hundreds of those who have been hired for Iraq have held demonstrations to demand the lifting of the order.
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In one such protest last week, police dispersed the workers with water cannons and truncheons, wounding several of them. It was a scene that some said reflected the desperation of many Filipinos to find work, even in danger zones such as Iraq.
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