02 July 2014 - The Philippine Embassies in Beirut, Lebanon and Damascus, Syria, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), successfully repatriated a total of 53 Filipino nationals from Syria on May 28 with 25 repatriates and on June 26 with 28 repatriates. The May 28 and June 26 operations undertaken by the two Embassies were the 51st and 52nd cross-border operations. The IOM shouldered the costs of the airfare, land transportation and meals of the overseas Filipino workers.
In both cross-border repatriation operations, the Embassy dispatched separate teams along with IOM personnel to assist the OFWs at the Masna’a border and at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. In the May 28 operation, Consul Dennis John Briones and Labor Attaché Bulyok Nilong assisted the Filipino repatriates at the Masna’a border, while Vice Consul Rona Goce Briones and Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) officer Dexter Macaraeg comprised the Embassy airport team.
On June 26, Vice Consul Rona Beth Goce and Collecting Officer Alberto Bansil with Interpreter Ahmad Eido composed the Embassy team at the border, while Consul Dennis John Briones and ATN/Legal Officer Junaid Ali with Embassy driver Khalaf Al Hussin composed the airport team. During these cross-border operations, the repatriates were directly escorted to the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut after undergoing immigration entry procedures at the Masna’a border.
The departure of the 53 Filipinos brought to 2,358 the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria via the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut since the first cross-border operation began on 12 December 2012. END