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LONDON: An anti-war protester was arrested in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday for showing support for a pro-Palestinian group that was recently banned in the UK.

The 64-year-old man was accused of holding a poster during a demonstration that allegedly displayed support for Palestine Action, local media reported.

The group was proscribed this month under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, after Palestine Action activists sprayed paint on two military aircraft after breaking into a Royal Air Force base on June 20. It means that membership or support for the group is now a criminal offense.

The ban came into force on July 5 and since then dozens of people have been arrested across the UK for showing support for the group.

Police Scotland said the man in Glasgow was arrested “in connection with an offense under the Terrorism Act for displaying a sign expressing support for a proscribed organization.”

Protesters chanted “let him go” as he was led away to a police van, The Herald newspaper reported. His arrest follows two others in the city in recent days involving people accused of showing support for the group.

More than 70 people were arrested in cities across the UK last weekend during protests against the banning of Palestine Action.

After MPs voted in favor of proscribing the group, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it had a “long history” of criminal damage.

“The UK’s defense enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk,” she added.

However, the ban was widely criticized by UN experts and human rights groups as draconian and for conflating protest with acts of terrorism.

Hundreds of politicians and campaigners signed a letter this week condemning the decision as “a major assault on our freedoms.”

MANILA: The Philippine Department of Migrant Workers launched on Friday the Middle East leg of its “service caravan” in Riyadh, as officials seek to provide an all-in-one stop of essential government services for overseas Filipinos in the region. 

������Ƶ is the leading destination for overseas Filipino workers, with about 898,000 of them currently living and working in the Kingdom. 

The DMW collaborated with other government agencies to bring them the Serbisyo Caravan, or service caravan, an outreach program that offers various state services. 

“The Serbisyo Caravan here in the Middle East is part of the government’s ongoing program to bring vital services directly to our OFWs,” Rommel Romato, the Philippine consul-general in Jeddah, told Arab News. 

“By gathering multiple agencies in one place, the caravan makes it easier and faster for OFWs to access assistance without needing to make special trips to the Philippines.” 

The services include welfare counseling, free legal consultations, business support assistance, as well as registration and processing of official documents, among other things that are usually only available within the Philippines. 

Many Filipino nationals in the Saudi capital flocked to take advantage of the service caravan, with large numbers queuing since Friday morning, as seen in a video posted by the DMW on Facebook. 

“We want to regularize this program as we expand our diplomatic and consular services to millions of OFWs abroad,” Romato said. 

Philippine First Lady Louise Marcos arrived in Riyadh on Friday to oversee the launch of the outreach program. As part of the working visit, she will also meet with Filipino migrant workers in the Kingdom, according to Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro. 

Though Philippine officials first launched the service caravan in Hong Kong last month, Friday’s service marks the first time it was brought to the Middle East.

After Riyadh, the DMW is set to take the caravan program to the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Alkhobar, as well as Qatar and the UAE in July and August. 

Around 20 percent of Filipino migrant workers are in ������Ƶ, while about 13.6 percent live and work in the UAE, and another 6.2 percent are in Qatar.