Search on for Filipinos in Syria

Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are going around conflict-torn Syria trying to locate undocumented Filipino migrant workers and negotiate with their employers for their repatriation, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

Del Rosario said rapid reponse teams that were sent earlier to repatriate Filipinos caught in the conflict were making headway in asking the Syrian government to relax exit visa requirements.

Easing visa requirements for undocumented Filipinos will speed up repatriation efforts.

“We sent two rapid response teams there [with] augmentation officers who speak Arabic to help facilitate negotiations with employers to buy out the contract of the undocumented domestic service workers,” the foreign secretary said Thursday. Tarra Quismundo