No schedule yet for repatriation in Syria
Thursday, August 18, 2011
MANILA — No date has yet been set for the voluntary repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Syria, even as 11 of them have expressed intentions of going home, a foreign affairs official said.
“Those [OFWs] who sought to be repatriated are in trickles but nothing has been defined yet as to when they can be repatriated,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
Officials still need to arrange travel documents of OFWs in Syria and discuss extradition, he added.
Of the 11 Filipinos who wanted to return home, two are from Homs and nine are from Latakia.
These 11 Filipinos made their intentions known through calls made to the embassy or during the visits made by foreign affairs officials to their communities, Hernandez said.
Syrian tension
Although some sought repatriation to avoid being caught in the Syrian tension, a few also wish to return for “personal reasons.”
On Tuesday, the DFA raised the alert level in Syria to “3″, which calls for voluntary repatriation, after Syrian government forces continued to assault protesters against President Bashar al-Assad.
Hernandez said Damascus, Syria’s capital, and Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, are being eyed as possible repatriation areas for Filipino nationals.
“There are safe places, like Damascus at Aleppo. There were reports from our embassy there that these are still very secure places for our Filipinos,” he said.
These two cities also have international airports, making it easier for Filipinos to return home.
Telephone numbers
Hernandez said those who wish to be repatriated may call the Philippine Embassy in Damascus via their hotline number, 00-963-116-132626.
On the other hand, families of Filipinos in Syria may also contact the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) at 834-3245 and 834-3240.
Also on Tuesday, Malacañang assured that the government has the necessary funds to bring home Filipinos caught in the middle of unrest in Syria.
A modest financial assistance package awaits Filipino workers returning from Syria, the government said Wednesday.
Household service workers are set to receive financial grants worth P10,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), the agency said.
The benefit is also extended to those who are not members of the Owwa, Carmelita Dimzon, Owwa administrator, said in a phone interview.
Besides cash, the government is also expected to provide options for redeployment, skills upgrade or retooling, local employment opportunities or livelihood assistance.
Funding support
“We have enough funds for documented and undocumented workers. We will make sure that we will protect our Filipino citizens abroad,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
Lacierda asked Filipinos, especially those in the areas placed under alert level 3, or voluntary repatriation, to heed the calls of the government to evacuate immediately.
“Let’s not wait until the last minute before they decide to accede to the request from the government to evacuate,” he said.
Those who wish to be repatriated will be transported back to the country by air, he added.
“It will be by air because the airports in Damascus and Aleppo are open. We can take commercial planes and there is funding for that to bring them back to Manila,” he noted.
He, however, could not tell when the repatriation would be carried out, deferring to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, who flew to Syria to personally address the concerns of about 17,000 Filipinos there.
Lacierda said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is providing assistance to Filipinos in Syria.
He said the Department of Labor and Employment is looking for ways to find alternative jobs for the Filipinos who will be repatriated. (AMN/Jill Beltran/Sunnex)
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Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
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