DFA chief: Soon, only 3,000 Pinoys will be left in strife-torn Syria
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario said only around 3,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) will be left in strife-torn Syria after the arrival in the Philippines of three batches of OFW repatriates.
“After we repatriate those three groups that I mentioned, that would leave about 3,000 in Syria,” Del Rosario said in an interview with GMA Network's “News to Go” program anchors
Howie Severino and Kara David.
The three batches of OFW repatriates include:
The first batch was divided in two groups because not all of them could be accommodated in one flight.
“Well, we're now at the airport, the vice president is with me and we are meeting a planeload of 263 OFWs,” Del Rosario said during a live phone interview on "News to Go."
“After this 263, we were able to negotiate for an additional. There are an additional 17 that could not be accommodated in the [first] chartered flight,” he added.
The second group is expected to be repatriated next week.
“But to follow in the next couple of days will be another 400 OFWs who have completed their contract and who expressed their desire to go home. We have completed their negotiations on their behalf with the government as well,” Del Rosario said.
“After they are repatriated, we have another group which is composed of the 180 OFWs from Allepo,” he added.
3,000 OFWs left in Syria
Del Rosario said the 3,000 OFWs who will be left in Syria after the arrival in the Philippines of the three batches of OFWs are mostly those who want to stay there amidst the violence.
“Most of them have not contacted the embassy and our assumption is that they do not wish to leave at this time,” he said.
“There are many cases where our people are well cared for by their employers. In those cases decisions are made for them not to come home,” he added.
Wishes amidst war
Del Rosario said he visited Syria last week to check on the situation of the OFWs which were seeking shelter in the PHL Embassy in Damascus.
“Our people are coming from all over Syria and the gathering place is actually the Embassy in Damascus,” he said.
“I visited Syria last week. Damascus is fairly normal, it’s business as usual during the daytime. In the evenings you can hear occasional explosions. But the escalating violence is actually out in the provinces,” he added.
Del Rosario mentioned three places which were under heavy fighting.
“Well Allepo is their business district that’s under siege. Homs also is under siege. Daraa, in the south is much the same way,” he said.
Allepo is the area where the violence has highly escalated.
“So a lot of the escalating violence is actually happening outside Damascus,” he concluded.
For the first group of OFWs that will arrive on Tuesday, Del Rosario asked the Syrian government for three things to make it easier to repatriate them:
“All of our requests were for waiving these requirements were actually granted by the office of the Syrian president,” Del Rosario said.
Since Allepo is affected by the war, Del Rosario made a special request from the Syrians.
“What we did is we negotiated for them to be repatriated without any conditions on the basis of the fact that Aleppo is a war zone. And the government institutions are no longer functioning in that area,” he said.
“So the Syrian government was kind enough to grant and give way for simply what we were looking for,” he added. - VVP, GMA News
“After we repatriate those three groups that I mentioned, that would leave about 3,000 in Syria,” Del Rosario said in an interview with GMA Network's “News to Go” program anchors
Howie Severino and Kara David.
The three batches of OFW repatriates include:
- 280 OFWs expected to arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday
- 400 OFWs to be repatriated next week
- 180 OFWs from Allepo on an unspecified date
The first batch was divided in two groups because not all of them could be accommodated in one flight.
“Well, we're now at the airport, the vice president is with me and we are meeting a planeload of 263 OFWs,” Del Rosario said during a live phone interview on "News to Go."
“After this 263, we were able to negotiate for an additional. There are an additional 17 that could not be accommodated in the [first] chartered flight,” he added.
The second group is expected to be repatriated next week.
“But to follow in the next couple of days will be another 400 OFWs who have completed their contract and who expressed their desire to go home. We have completed their negotiations on their behalf with the government as well,” Del Rosario said.
“After they are repatriated, we have another group which is composed of the 180 OFWs from Allepo,” he added.
3,000 OFWs left in Syria
Del Rosario said the 3,000 OFWs who will be left in Syria after the arrival in the Philippines of the three batches of OFWs are mostly those who want to stay there amidst the violence.
“Most of them have not contacted the embassy and our assumption is that they do not wish to leave at this time,” he said.
“There are many cases where our people are well cared for by their employers. In those cases decisions are made for them not to come home,” he added.
Wishes amidst war
Del Rosario said he visited Syria last week to check on the situation of the OFWs which were seeking shelter in the PHL Embassy in Damascus.
“Our people are coming from all over Syria and the gathering place is actually the Embassy in Damascus,” he said.
“I visited Syria last week. Damascus is fairly normal, it’s business as usual during the daytime. In the evenings you can hear occasional explosions. But the escalating violence is actually out in the provinces,” he added.
Del Rosario mentioned three places which were under heavy fighting.
“Well Allepo is their business district that’s under siege. Homs also is under siege. Daraa, in the south is much the same way,” he said.
Allepo is the area where the violence has highly escalated.
“So a lot of the escalating violence is actually happening outside Damascus,” he concluded.
For the first group of OFWs that will arrive on Tuesday, Del Rosario asked the Syrian government for three things to make it easier to repatriate them:
- waiver of exit Visas
- negotiations with employers, and
- waiver of penalties on immigration
“All of our requests were for waiving these requirements were actually granted by the office of the Syrian president,” Del Rosario said.
Since Allepo is affected by the war, Del Rosario made a special request from the Syrians.
“What we did is we negotiated for them to be repatriated without any conditions on the basis of the fact that Aleppo is a war zone. And the government institutions are no longer functioning in that area,” he said.
“So the Syrian government was kind enough to grant and give way for simply what we were looking for,” he added. - VVP, GMA News
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