The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday announced the total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to South Sudan due to the unstable peace and security situation in the North African region.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the deployment ban was issued after an Alert Level 4 was declared by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) due to the escalation of violence in South Sudan.

“In a resolution, the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) decided to impose a total ban on the processing and deployment of all OFWs bound for South Sudan, until further notice,” Bello said in a statement.

The DFA said it raised the alert in South Sudan to level 4 from alert level 2 due to the upsurge of violence that erupted between the forces allied with President Salva Kiir and the Protection Unit from the SPLA in Operation (SPLA-IO) of Vice President Riek Machar.

Alert level 4 provides for mandatory repatriation of Filipino workers in the affected area.

Upon request of the POEA, the DFA clarified that South Sudan remains under Alert Level 4 since July 19, 2019.

The civil war in South Sudan started in December 2013.