The Philippines said Tuesday it is lifting a nine-year ban on sending workers to Iraq, declaring the country mostly safe despite its worst bout of violence in years.

Filipinos, except for household helpers who are mainly female, can now work in Iraq outside four "no-go" provinces still considered dangerous, said Hans Cacdac, head of the labour ministry's Overseas Employment Administration.

He expects Filipinos to pour into the rebuilding of the country's oil and gas, construction, medical and hotel industries.

"According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the security situation is good enough to have overseas Filipino workers in Iraq," Cacdac told AFP.

"But the workers will be advised to take the precautionary measures."

He said Filipina maids will still be barred from Iraq because there was "no adequate protection in place" for them.

The Philippines banned its workers from going to Iraq after a Filipino truck driver was kidnapped by militants in 2004 in the wake of the US-led invasion there.


Soran Ali