82 OFWs to come home from Syria

MANILA, Philippines – As many as 82 Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were expected to arrive in the country Monday as repatriation efforts from strife-torn Syria were intensified.

The 82 OFWs were said to arrive on board three fights: Emirates Airways flight EK 346 at 2:55 p.m., Etihad Airways flight EY 424 at 3:25 p.m., and Emirates Airways flight EK 334 at 10:10 p.m.

The 82 were part of the 140 OFWs who were allowed by the Syrian government to leave without settling their exit visa fees, penalties and requirements.

In a statement Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the Philippines gained success in negotiating with top Syrian officials to bring back home 140 0FWs, the largest batch coming home from Syria since the unrest started in March 2011. It said the deal saved the government over $100,000.

Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis left for Syria on July 22 to request Damascus to simplify exit requirements for Filipino workers trying to escape the escalating violence in the country and facilitate their repatriation to the Philippines.

Seguis and six members of the government’s Rapid Response Team—composed of officers from the DFA, Department of Labor and Employment, and Department of the Interior and Local Government—were deployed to Syria on orders of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to assist the Philippine Embassy in Damascus in its repatriation efforts.

The statement also said the Syrian government assured Seguis it would provide the necessary assistance for the repatriation of 1,404 more OFWs who had expressed their intention to leave Syria.

“It likewise agreed to facilitate the repatriation of other Filipinos who will seek the assistance of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus in the coming days,” it said.

It added that 37 more OFWs were expected to be repatriated in the next two days, 27 on July 31 on board Emirates Airways flight EK 334 at 10:10 p.m., and 10 on August 1 on board Emirates Airways flight EK 334 at 10:10 p.m.

“The repatriates will be assisted by embassy personnel during their repatriation and would be escorted by members of the Philippine Government’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) from the Embassy to the Damascus International Airport,” the statement said.

It noted that the latest batch would bring the total number of repatriates from Syria to 1, 993.

Syria has been under the DFA’s crisis alert level 4, or mandatory evacuation of OFWs, since late last year. Fat Reyes