1,300 Pinoys in Syria waiting to be repatriated — DFA

ROUCHELLE DINGLASAN, GMA NEWS 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said about 1,300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are still waiting to be repatriated from strife-torn Syria.

 

“Sa ngayon sa ating estimate, mayroon pang mga 6,000 to 7,000 Filipinos na nandun pa sa Syria. Out of this, 1,300 na nagsignify ng interest na magrepatriate,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said in an interview with Howie Severino over GMA News TV’s “News To Go” program on Wednesday.

 

Since March last year, some 2,098 OFWs have been repatriated from the war-torn country, Hernandez noted.

 

About 19 Pinoys returned from Syria on Tuesday. This was the latest batch of OFWS repatriated from the country. 

“Basically ang ating mga kababayan ay nasa Damascus at Aleppo pero nandoon po sila sa mga mayayamang lugar... Ang sagupaan ngayon ay 'yung sa periphery at impoverished ng mga [nasabing] area,” Hernandez added.

 

Most of the OFWs working in Syria are employed as household service workers, the DFA spokesperson said.

 

Hernandez revealed that some Syrian employers would not let their workers go, posing a challenge to the Philippine Embassy in Syria.

 

“Meron pong mga ganung cases na ayaw ng mga employers na umalis or i-release sila kasi kailangang nga sila… pero paghalimbawa, sinabi na ng ating kababayan na kailangan na talaga na umalis na siya, at yung kanyang kaligtasan ay napepeligro na, tinutulungan natin silang sa pakikipagnegotiate sa kanilang employers,” he explained.

Rapid Response Team

 

Apart from the Philippine Embassy based on Damsacus, DFA also created a 30-member Rapid Response Team that solely focuses on repatriation.

 

“Ang Rapid Response Team ay tumutulong sa ating embahada para kausapin ang ating mga kakababayan para mapalikas na at kausapan ang kanilang mga employers para mapabilis ang kanilang repatriation,” the DFA spokesperson said.

 

“Karamihan po [ng mga OFWs sa Syria] ay may naka-register na ngayon sa ating embahada. Meron pa rin pong iilan na nagbago ang kanilang details, pati yung mga information kaya nahihirapan din po tayong kontakin sila,” he added.

Information about family members

Meanwhile, the DFA urged families of Filipinos in Syria to contact DFA at (02) 834-4996 or (02) 834-3333 to provide information about their family member’s current location and contact details.

 

Filipinos in Syria can likewise contact the Embassy for assistance at 963-11-6132626.

 

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz earlier appealed to prospective OFWs to steer clear from illegal recruiters offering jobs in Syria.

She noted that some 100 Filipinos arrive in Syria monthly despite the deployment ban in the country. 

200,000 refugees

 

Meanwhile, a Reuters report on Tuesday said the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey could reach 200,000 as the conflict deepens and many others could flee to Jordan, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

 

"The increase in the number of Syrians arriving in Turkey has been dramatic. Compared to previous weeks in which we saw about 400-500 people arriving a day, we've been seeing peaks of up to 5,000 people in one day over the past two weeks," Melissa Fleming, chief spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing.

 

A growing number of unaccompanied children without parents are also turning up in camps, the UNHCR said. Refugees from the southern Syrian province of Deraa have reported being bombed by aircraft or shelled on their journey across the border.

 

"We are already looking at potentially up to 200,000 and are working with the Turkish government to make the necessary plans," another spokeswoman, Sybella Wilkes, told Reuters.

 

The figure would include the more than 74,000 Syrian refugees already registered in Turkey, which is building at least five new camps in addition to the existing nine.

 

In the past 24 hours, more than 3,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey, with a further 7,000 expected in coming days.

 

Turkish authorities have sought assistance from UNHCR and other agencies, Fleming said.

 

"But they will continue to provide access and open borders to Syrians fleeing the conflict," she said.

 

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday called for more help from other countries with the growing refugee crisis. Last week Davutoglu suggested the United Nations may need to create a "safe zone" inside Syria.

 

Fleming said that was a question for the U.N. Security which the U.N. humanitarian organisations could not address.

 

Overall, 214,120 Syrians have been registered in four neighbouring countries - Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey - exceeding the UNHCR'S forecast of 185,000 for this year.

 

Start of influx

 

The pace of Syrian refugees reaching Za'atri camp in northern Jordan has doubled, with 10,200 arriving in the past week, heralding what could be a bigger mass movement, she said.

 

"We do believe this could be the start of a major, a much larger influx into Jordan," Fleming said.

 

Nearly 70,000 Syrian refugees are now registered or awaiting registration in Jordan, although thousands more have not signed up for assistance, according to the UNHCR.

 

"The refugees say that many thousands more are waiting to cross and violence around Deraa, which is not far across the border, is the reason," Fleming said.

 

In Lebanon, 54,142 Syrians have registered or are in the process of doing so, while nearly 16,000 refugees are in Iraq, where two of three crossings are open, according to the UNHCR.

 

Thousands more Syrians have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but have not registered for now, she said. - with Stephanie Nebehay/Reuters, VVP, GMA News