14 more Filipinos make it home from Syria strife

A Syrian man salvages what he can from his belongings after his house was hit during a Syrian government airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Fourteen Filipinos who fled the worsening strife in Syria arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Sunday afternoon.

The repatriated Filipinos, who included two children, arrived on board Emirates Air flight EK 332 at 4:30 p.m.

They were welcomed by officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Most of them were domestics who had entered Syria illegally. The government had to pay fines and penalties to secure their exit visas and preterminate their job contracts.

Some employers, who advanced payment for domestic services for one or two year periods, apparently were not allowing their help to leave. Some repatriates complained of being detained or locked up by their employers.

According to the DFA, the latest group brings the total number of repatriates to 2,079.

DFA officials told a Senate hearing recently that they believed there were about 17,000 Filipinos in Syria but 98 percent of them were undocumented.

The DFA is now trying to track down these Filipinos, mostly domestic helpers, they said.

The DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Syria renewed their call on the family members of Filipinos in Syria to provide the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs with up-to-date information regarding their loved ones’ whereabouts by calling (02)8343333 or (02)8344996 or by e-mailing [email protected].

Philippine Chargé d’ Affaires Alfredo M. Borlongan also urged Filipinos in Syria to call the embassy at (963-11)-6132626 so that diplomatic personnel could reach them.