DMW: Repatriation may last until December

DMW building. File photo/ABC

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) expects to repatriate around 1,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Lebanon by year-end due to ongoing violence and tension between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

A group of 76 OFWs from Beirut was scheduled to arrive in Manila late Sunday evening, bringing the total number of returning OFWs to 668.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said in a dzBB interview that approximately 250 to 300 OFWs are still awaiting repatriation, with 100 to 150 applications pending in Lebanese immigration.

READ: Foreign workers trapped, terrified in Lebanon’s conflict

The number represents only about 10 percent of the estimated 11,000 Filipinos in Lebanon.

Returning OFWs will receive financial assistance worth P150,000 from the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

The amount is roughly equivalent to four to six months’ salary for a domestic worker, which Cacdac noted would help the returnees adjust and cope after arriving home.

As of Sunday, around 200 Filipinos are staying in four shelters across Beirut managed by the DMW. —Jane Bautista