REPORTS ON RAPE AND DEATH OF FILIPINA NURSES IN RIYADH UNFOUNDED

MANILA, Philippine - An investigation conducted by the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia disproved reports of a supposed rape of four Filipina nurses working in Riyadh hospitals.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said they have not received any report on a supposed incident that victimised four health care workers from the Philippines.

• Based on interviews conducted by embassy staff of Filipina nurses at the Riyadh Al Kharj Military Hospital and the King Abdulaziz Medical City-National Guard Affairs "it was found out that there were no cases of any Filipina nurses raped or killed there", the DFA said.
• Earlier, a Middle East-based Filipino migrants workers' group, Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (Fellowship in the Middle East), called the attention of the Philippine Embassy to verify reports that four nurses have been abducted and raped in two separate incidents in Riyadh.

According to the group, three of the nurses worked at the National Guard Hospital while the other victim who was said to be working at the Al Kharj Military Hospital died from injuries she sustained after she was gang-raped.
Ezzedin Tago, charge d' affaires of the embassy in Riyadh, immediately sent representatives to both hospitals to verify the reports.

• Tago, according to the DFA, had said that officials at the National Guard Hospital were alarmed over the incident but the rumours apparently, turned out to be untrue.
• "Embassy representatives were able to discuss with the hospital's director for administrative affairs, who immediately summoned a colleague from the hospital's investigation unit and asked for a clarification.
• "The colleague stated that there is no such case involving the nurses of the hospital. Embassy representatives also interviewed Filipina nurses working in the hospital, who said that the incident is just a rumour," Tago was quoted as saying in the DFA statement.
• He added that nurses who were interviewed at the Al Kharj Military Hospital said they were not aware of such an incident.
• "All of them stated that they were not aware of anything as gruesome as this," he added.
• Tago said that it is almost impossible to keep fatal cases involving a foreign national under wraps as the law in Saudi Arabia requires an expatriate's sponsor to immediately inform the embassy of any death.
• "The embassy has reviewed its files, specifically the No Objection Certificates issued and the Reports of Death to see if indeed a Filipina working in a hospital died recently. The only case was that of a Filipina who died in June 2010 due to natural causes," he explained.
• "Also, no one from the alleged victim, her relatives or her friends have come to the embassy to report the case," Tago added.
• The DFA said allegations of the commission of criminal acts against Philippine nationals are serious and are not taken lightly.

Source: GN