20 more Pinoys to be repatriated from Syria

Another 20 Filipinos repatriated from Syria are expected to arrive in the country later this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

In a statement, the DFA said the 20 Filipinos who availed of mandatory repatriation will be returning to the Philippines on board Emirates Airlines flight number EK-332 from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at 4:35 p.m. Thursday.

The 20 Filipinos will travel by land from Damascus to Beirut on Wednesday, where they will be assisted by the Philippine embassy officials during their transit at the Lebanese Masna'a border, the DFA said.

It added that the Filipino workers' travel fare was shouldered by the International Organization for Migration in Damascus.

The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Damascus has secured exit visas for another 20 Filipinos, whose repatriation requirements are being processed.

The latest batch brings the total number of repatriated Filipinos to 5,473 since alert levels were raised in war-torn Syria.

Citing escalating violence there, the Philippine government raised Alert Level 4, which calls for mandatory repatriation, in December 2011. –Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News

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