MANILA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Tripoli, Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said on Wednesday.

Bello said officials from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in a recent meeting have decided to impose a ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Tripoli and areas within the 100-kilometer radius of the Libyan capital.

POEA is a government agency responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program of the Philippines. It is the main agency assigned to monitor and supervise recruitment agencies in the Philippines.

On Monday, the DFA raised the alert level in Libya to 3 and urged an estimated 1,000 Filipinos in Tripoli and nearby areas to consider getting themselves and their dependents repatriated to avoid getting caught in the middle of the ongoing clashes between rival factions.

The Philippine Embassy in Tripoli gave the recommendation to raise the alert level following the escalation of the fighting that included the shelling of residential areas in the outskirts of the capital.