So far, Filipinos spared in Syrian strife, says DFA

No Filipinos were killed or injured in the latest and deadliest crackdown on protests by Syrian security forces, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday that “no Filipino has been reported to have been affected by the recent violence in Syria.”

Hernandez said “the next repatriation (of overseas Filipino workers) from Syria will be effected soon.”

“Flight details will be announced (this week),” he added.

So far, only 771 of the 10,000 OFWs in Syria have been repatriated by the government with help from the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM).

On Saturday, Reuters reported that more than 200 people were killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, as the United Nations Security Council prepared to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab League call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad’s crackdown on protests in the last 11 months that were inspired by the uprisings that ousted three Arab leaders.

Some activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of Army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents that Assad has vowed to crush.

So far, more than 5,000 people have died in the uprising, according to the UN.

Last month, the DFA raised the crisis alert level for Filipinos in Syria from 3 to 4 in view of the escalating violence.

Under level 4, the mandatory or forced evacuation of OFWs at government expense is implemented.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called the repatriation of Filipinos from Syria a “continuing effort of the government since April 2010.”

Del Rosario, who flew to Damascus late last month to oversee OFW evacuation operations, had instructed the Philippine embassy in the Syrian capital to intensify its efforts “for the full implementation of crisis alert level 4.”

A majority of the Philippine nationals in Syria, however, have ignored the government offer, prompting the DFA to intensify its efforts to reach out to them and convince them to leave.

According to Del Rosario, the Filipinos’ reason for wanting to stay was that there were no opportunities for them in the Philippines, the same reason given by thousands of OFWs in Libya who opted to remain in the troubled north African nation during the eight-month-long uprising against strongman Moammar Gadhafi last year.

Originally posted: 11:40 am | Sunday, February 5th, 2012