Pinoy repatriates continue to trickle in from strife-torn Syria

Thirty-two Filipinos are scheduled to return home from strife-torn Syria on Thursday afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in an advisory.

The 32, who availed of the government's mandatory repatriation program set in place due to Syria's Alert Level 4 status, are scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 4 p.m., the DFA said.

The alert level also bans the deployment of Filipino workers to Syria, which has been under severe political turmoil for months.

Personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut assisted the Filipinos in crossing the Lebanese Masna'a border and undergoing medical checkups before their flight aboard Emirates Airlines flight EK-332.

With their arrival, the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Syria increased to 5,578, with 2,535 repatriated through Lebanon.

Citizens with family members in Syria may contact the Philippine Embassy through the following contact details:

00963-11-6132626
00963-949155557
00963-934957926
pe.damascus@gmail.com

Syria was bombarded by renewed airstrikes from Israel on Wednesday, just 10 days after an earlier attack killed an Iranian general and several Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

On Tuesday, two rockets from Syria hitting the Golan Heights forced Israel to briefly evacuate its Mt. Hermon ski resort. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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