DFA Rapid Response Team Successfully Concludes Lebanon Mission

Group photo of Filipino repatriates with Beirut PE, MWO-Beirut and OWWA-Beirut officials. (Photo courtesy by Beirut PE)

BEIRUT 26 November 2024 — The Department of Foreign Affairs sent an  Augmentation Team to the Philippine Embassy in Beirut to assist distressed Filipinos during the ongoing crisis in Lebanon from 20 October to 08 November 2024. 

The Lebanon mission was conducted through the joint efforts of the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Beirut. The DFA Rapid Response Team was led by Director Jeffrey Peñamante Salik of the Office of ASEAN Affairs, assisted by ATN Desk Officer Minda Mae M. Bahjin of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs, and Attachés Junaid C. Ali and Abdul Nasser D. Tanggol II of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.

The team aided with the mass repatriation of over 460 Overseas Filipinos and their dependents, aided in designing the distribution process of the Kabayan Agarang Pagmamalasakit Welfare Assistance (KAPWA) and its daily distribution in Beirut and Tripoli, and negotiated and settled 11 cases of workers who were not initially allowed by their employers to return home. 

The members of the mission have since returned to the Philippines and have confirmed that the situation in Beirut is normalizing and that there are relatively few Filipinos left who wish to be repatriated to the Philippines.

The successful mission underscores the commitment of DFA, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs and the different Philippine Embassies and Consulates General all over the world, to ensure the welfare of Filipinos overseas. It also reflects how the collaborative spirit of Filipinos continues to thrive, especially during ongoing crises. END

Distribution of KAPWA to seven hundred twenty-eight (728) qualified recipients at the Philippine Embassy in Beirut. (Photo Courtesy by Beirut PE)

Distribution of KAPWA to ninety-four (94) recipients who were repatriated on 25 October 2024. (Photo Courtesy by Beirut PE)

Ocular visit to MWO shelter at the Monteverde Hotel to meet with Social Welfare Attaché Rosemarie Fabros-Alvez (MWO-RRT) to ascertain the physical condition and travel status of the temporary wards awaiting repatriation. [Left to Right: Mr. Nader Shuhaibar of the Philippine Embassy in Beirut, Attaché Junaid C. Ali of Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, Director Jeffrey P. Salik of the Office of ASEAN Affairs, Social Welfare Attaché Rosemarie Fabros-Alvez of the Migrant Workers’ Office, ATN Desk Officer Minda Mae M. Bahjin from the Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs, and Attaché Nasser D. Tanggol of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.] (Photo courtesy by Beirut PE)