DFA chief leaves for Syria to facilitate immediate repatriation of OFWs

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario left for Syria Monday night to coordinate with top Syrian government officials for the immediate repatriation of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) amid the intensifying violence in the country.

“We were given a clear mandate by the President to ensure the safety and welfare of Filipinos in Syria. We want to facilitate the immediate repatriation of as many Filipinos as possible,” Del Rosario said in a statement released Tuesday.

Del Rosario is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis.

The statement also noted that a Rapid Response Team (RRT), composed of officers and personnel from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), is in Syria “to extract Filipinos from conflict areas and help speed-up the repatriation efforts, which is being spearheaded by the Philippine Embassy in Damascus.”

In a phone interview Tuesday, Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesperson, said that more than 1,000 Filipinos are currently undergoing repatriation procedures and were set to come home in the next weeks following the completion of their documentation requirements and exit visas.

The statement noted that 300 Filipinos were also housed in the embassy’s half-way house ready to be repatriated and were expected to arrive in the coming days.

It said that 26 OFWs were also scheduled to arrive Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing the total number of repatriates from Syria to 2, 124.

In earlier interviews with reporters, Seguis had noted that 3,735 Filipinos have registered at the Philippine Embassy in Damascus for repatriation, the largest number of Filipinos who have sought evacuation since the Philippine government mounted a mandatory repatriation plan in March 2011.

The DFA statement said that in April and December 2011, Del Rosario also went to Damascus to personally seek the assistance of the Syrian Government in looking after Filipinos in Syria.

Last July, Seguis also left for Syria and was able to cut a deal with the Syrian government when Syrian authorities agreed to waive the exit visa fees, penalties, and requirements for 140 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were brought home last July 30 to August 1. In a statement, the DFA said the deal saved the government more than $100,000.

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