08 January 2014- The first batch of repatriates from Syria for 2014 are scheduled to leave Damascus today, January 8.

The group, composed of 21 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be brought by the personnel of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus to the Syrian-Lebanese border by bus.

The personnel of the Embassy in Beirut will be at the border crossing to assist the group with immigration formalities. They will then be brought to Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport for their flight to Abu Dhabi.

Upon their arrival in Manila, the number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria will reach 5,137. Of this number, 2,112 were repatriated through Lebanon with the assistance and support of the Embassy in Beirut.

It may be recalled that the Embassy in Damascus stopped using the Damascus International Airport (DIA) in December 2012, when fighting between the Syrian Army and rebel forces intensified in Eastern Ghouta, where the road to DIA is located.

Despite the big number of Filipinos already repatriated from Syria, the Embassy in Damascus reported that there are still an estimated 2,600 Filipinos living in different parts of the war-torn country. This estimated figure is based on the Embassy in Damascus’ Database and the List of the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL).

The Department of Foreign Affairs is appealing to all Filipinos whose relatives are still in Syria to contact the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) at the following telephone numbers: (02)834-3240, (02)834-4583, or the Philippine Embassy in Damascus at telephone numbers, +963-116132626, +963-949155557 and provide the names of Filipinos and their contact numbers and, if possible, the names of employers and their contact numbers. END