DFA: 31 more Pinoys due home from Syria on Friday

Another batch of overseas Filipino workers who availed of the Philippine government's repatriation program is due home from strife-torn Syria Friday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

In a news release, the DFA said the 31 repatriated OFWs are to arrive in Manila at 10:55 a.m. Friday aboard a Gulf Air Flight GF-154.

"Upon their arrival, the number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria will reach 4,772. Of that number, 1,750 were repatriated through Lebanon," it said.

Syria is in the midst of an extremely violent civil war where clashes between government forces and rebels have already claimed thousands of lives.

US President Barack Obama has called for punitive action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad due to the chemical weapons attack that killed scores of civilians last month.

The Philippine government is scrambling to get more Filipinos out of Syria amid planned US strikes.

The DFA said at least 3,000 Filipinos have remained in Syria after they refused to join the government-organized evacuation citing lack of economic opportunities back home.

The Philippine Embassy in Damascus, meanwhile, has vowed to continue and even intensify its efforts to repatriate Filipinos from Syria "in view of the worsening security situation there." — KBK, GMA News

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