04 November 2013 – The Philippine Embassies in Damascus, Syria and Beirut, Lebanon, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) once again facilitated the successful repatriation to the Philippines of another batch of 23 Filipinos from Syria on October 31. The IOM provided the airfare, land transportation and meals of this batch of repatriates.
The same-day cross-border repatriation operation commenced in the morning of October 31 when Vice Consul Rona Beth Goce and Welfare Officer Imelda Gatinao of the Philippine Embassy in Beirut proceeded to the General Security (Lebanese immigration) at Masna’a border, where they met the team from IOM. At the Masna’a border, the Embassy and IOM teams received the 23 Filipinos from the officers of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus and then assisted the repatriates undergo immigration entry procedures.
From the Masna’a border, Vice Consul Goce and Welfare Officer Gatinao escorted the repatriates directly to the Embassy where the 23 OFWs were received and assisted by Ms. Chloe Silverio, the Embassy’s Property Officer and Administrative Assistant, and Mr. Khalaf Hussein, another Embassy personnel. While at the Embassy, the 23 Filipinos took time to rest while waiting to be brought to the airport.
Later in the afternoon, another team composed of Vice Consul Dennis John Briones and Consular Assistant Armand Dimaranan brought the repatriates to the Rafik Hariri International Airport, where the group underwent airline and immigration procedures. At the airport, a representative from IOM was also on hand to assist the repatriates.
At exactly 7:25 p.m., the repatriates left Beirut for Dubai where they took their flight to Manila. The group arrived in Manila on November 01 via Emirates flight EK 332.
This is the 37th cross-border operation undertaken by the two Embassies. The departure of this group of 23 Filipinos brings to 1,885 the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria via the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut since the first cross-border operations on 12 December 2012. END