25 OFWs from Syria to come home

Under the ongoing Philippine Government’s Mandatory Repatriation Program (MRP), 25 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Syria will arrive at 4:00 p.m. on March 10 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on board Emirates Airlines flight EK-332.

The arrival of this batch will bring the total number of Filipinos repatriated from war-torn Syria to 5,604. Of this number, 2,560 were repatriated through Lebanon, with the cooperation, assistance and support of the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.

The 25 OFWs will travel by land from Damascus to Beirut today, March 9. Personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut will assist the repatriates during their transit at the Lebanese Masna’a border while the International Organization for Migration in Damascus (IOM-Damascus) shouldered their airfare.

Another group of 22 OFWs have been granted exit visas by the Syrian Immigration and Passport Directorate (SIPD) and their repatriation is being coordinated with IOM-Damascus and the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Damascus continues to coordinate with the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates for the issuance of exit visas for OFWs who are currently sheltered at the halfway quarters.

With the MRP still in place, the Philippine Embassy in Damascus strongly encourages the next-of-kin of Filipino workers who remain in Syria to provide information on their family member’s whereabouts so that immediate assistance can be extended to them. The Embassy may be reached through the following contact details: telephone numbers 00963-11-6132626, 00963-949155557, 00963-934957926 and e-mail address: pe.damascus@gmail.com.