14 January 2015 - The Philippine Embassies in Beirut, Lebanon and Damascus, Syria, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), successfully repatriated a total of 50 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Syria, with 35 OFWs repatriated on 05 November 2014 and 15 OFWs on 03 December 2014.
The IOM provided airfare, land transportation and meals of the OFWs, as well as assistance at the border and airport.
In both cross-border repatriation operations, the Embassy dispatched separate teams to assist the OFWs at the Masna’a border and at Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut. In the 05 November 2014 repatriation operation, Consul Dennis John Briones and Collecting Officer Alberto Bansil assisted the 35 Filipino repatriates from the time they entered Lebanon via the Masna’a border up to the time they boarded their flight to Manila in Beirut, while Vice Consul Rona Goce Briones and Mr. Bansil comprised the Embassy team, which assisted the 15 repatriates on 03 December 2014.
The batch of 35 Filipinos arrived in Manila on 06 November 2014 via Qatar Airways flight QR926, while the batch of 15 Filipinos arrived in Manila on 04 December 2014 via Emirates flight EK 332.
The 05 November 2014 and 03 December 2014 operations undertaken by the two Embassies were the 57th and 58th cross-border operations, respectively. The departure of the 50 Filipinos brought to 2,484 the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria via the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut since the first cross-border operations began on 12 December 2012. The total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria is now at 5,546. END