02 October 2014 – The Philippine Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the assistance of the Lebanese authorities, successfully repatriated 29 Filipino nationals from Lebanon on September 11.

Twenty-one (21) of the repatriates were sheltered at the Embassy’s Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC) while the other eight overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whose residence and work permits were also no longer valid, were staying outside the Philippine Embassy. The IOM provided the airfares of the 21 Filipinos sheltered at the MWOFRC while the rest shouldered the cost of their respective plane tickets.

The IOM also provided a bus to transport all the repatriates from the Embassy shelter to the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

As in the case of all previous mass repatriations, the immigration penalties of all the 29 OFWs involved in the September 11 mass repatriation were waived by the Lebanese immigration upon official representations made by the Philippine Embassy.

The successful repatriation of this group of Filipinos-in-distress from Lebanon was a result of the continuing close collaboration between the Lebanese authorities and IOM and the Philippine Embassy, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Beirut. END