THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday announced that alert level 3 was raised over Iraq in anticipation of escalation of violence due to the pullout of United States military forces.

Alert level 3 gives overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Baghdad an option to avail of the Philippine government’s voluntary repatriation program. 

The alert level covers all regions of Iraq except the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, near the country’s border with Turkey.

This action was prompted by the higher than expected surge in terrorist and sectarian violence in Iraq following the withdrawal of United States military forces in December 2011.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario has given marching orders to the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad to contact and urge all remaining OFWs in Iraq to avail of the DFA’s repatriation offer.

Under alert level 3, Filipinos who wish to leave Iraq are offered voluntary repatriation at government expense.

A ban on further deployment of OFWs is automatically imposed in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment.

Filipinos are likewise advised not to travel to the affected areas while alert level 3 is in effect.

There are currently 192 OFWs in Iraq’s Kurdish Region and 279 in the rest of the country that are registered with the embassy.