Migrante-Middle East hits slow OFW exit from Syria

AP PHOTO

A migrants rights group on Wednesday scored the Philippine government’s “snail-paced repatriation” of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Syria, which has been wracked by civil unrest.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the repatriation efforts of government agencies were still wanting after almost a year of conflict in the troubled Middle Eastern country.

He noted that as of the second week of December the Department, of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had only repatriated over 300 workers. “This translates to about 1.7 percent of the 17,000 estimated numbers of OFWs in Syria, he said.

“We also note that the recall of Ambassador to Syria Wilfredo Cuyugan hasn’t made a difference,” Monterona said in a statement.

Cuyugan’s replacement, Ambassador Ricardo Endaya, was supposed to be more experienced in repatriation efforts.

Around 90 percent of the 17,000 OFWs in Syria are undocumented or illegal workers.

Monterona’s suggestions on how to do a better repatriation job includes sending a high-level delegation to Damascus to coordinate with Syrian authorities for the mass repatriation of OFWs.

The government recently raised alert level 4 in Syria, which calls for the mandatory repatriation of all Filipino citizens.

Monterona, on the other hand, accused the Philippine embassy in Damascus of raising the alert level too late.

“There could be no timely and efficient repatriation effort by the Philippine government if in the first place there was a misreading of the peace and order situation in Syria when the conflict had just erupted and even until now,” Monterona said.

Monterona urged the DFA to be more proactive in its evacuation and repatriation program. Philip C. Tubeza