580 more OFWs coming home from Syria - DFA



By: Pots de Leon, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines -- Another batch of 580 overseas Filipino workers is returning home from strife-torn Syria this week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Monday.

Del Rosario said 400 of the returning OFWs have completed their contracts while the remaining 180, from war-torn Aleppo, have had all their requirements waived by the Syrian government.

The Philippine government has been negotiating with Syria to allow OFWs to be repatriated even without completing their work contracts.

Syria has waived the full payment of immigration fees -- a requirement for the issuance of an exit visa and which employers there do not pay to prevent workers from running away.

A rapid response team composed of officers and personnel from the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Labor and Employment, and Interior and Local Government, along with the Philippine embassy in Damascus, is handling the repatriation of OFWs from Syria.

The Philippine government is shouldering all costs of repatriation, including plane tickets and immigration penalty fees.

The costs for each repatriated worker can total up to $5,000 as most OFWs in Syria are undocumented.

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