52 OFWs from Libya back in PHL – OWWA
A total of 52 Filipino workers from Libya arrived in Manila over the weekend, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said.
In a phone interview with GMA News Online on Monday, Marie Cruz, supervisor of OWWA's Advocacy and Social Marketing Division, confirmed that two batches of OFWs were flown back to Manila.
The first batch of 32 Filipino workers arrived last Saturday at 4:35 p.m., while another 20 OFWs returned home on Sunday at 10:10 p.m., Cruz said.
In a news release on Friday, the OWWA said the OFWs were arriving in two separate flights, EK 332 and EK 334, respectively.
The 52 OFWs add to the 4,245 others from Libya who were assisted by OWWA since civil unrest began there this year.
The DFA declared Crisis Alert Level 4 in Libya last July 20, putting a total deployment ban and mandatory repatriation in place.
Libya is currently under its second civil war, the first one erupting in 2011. Since then, the Philippine government has been trying to repatriate Filipino workers there, though many of them refuse to leave despite worsening bloodshed, citing lack of employment opportunities back home.
In July, a Filipino construction worker was beheaded by militants there and a Filipina nurse was gang-raped after being taken in front of her residence.
Government data shows an estimated 13,000 Filipinos work there. — RSJ, GMA News
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