DFA: 40 Pinoys in Syria 'interested' in repatriation

At least 40 Filipinos in Syria have expressed interest in being repatriated, although not all of them cited the growing violence there as reason. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said many of the present batch of Filipinos who want to be repatriated have had "labor problems" there. "There are around 40 Filipinos in the Embassy who would like to be repatriated for different reasons. Some of them cited labor matters and issues, others are connected with the violence there," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio early Thursday. But he said the Philippine rapid response team now in Syria is working with embassy officials there to convince Filipinos to avail of repatriation now. He said there is possibility some routes of exit will be blocked once the violence in Syria escalates. "Sa ngayon we are really reaching out to our kababayans, pina-iigting natin ang efforts na makumbinsi silang lumikas na. Ngayon ang routes of exit and escape are still open like commercial flight sa Damascus and Aleppo. Ayaw natin later on they will be put in a situation na mahirapan sila lumikas o maipit sila because of the worsening violence happening in that country," he said. He said Philippine embassy and rapid-response team officials are working to make sure the Filipinos who will be repatriated have the necessary travel documents. These include negotiating with their employers to secure their passports and other documents, or issuing travel papers to the Filipinos; as well as securing exit clearances for them. Hernandez said a bulk of the 17,000 Filipino workers in Syria is based in Damascus. Meanwhile, Hernandez said the DFA in Manila and the Philippine Embassy in Syria continue to operate 24-hour hotlines for Filipino workers in Syria and their kin back home. Enough funds for repatriation Hernandez assured the Filipinos enough funds are being readied for repatriation efforts. "We are closely monitoring the security situation and validating our information with different sources. So far we are there, Alert Level 3, and when we reach some benchmarks tingnan natin kung kailangan i-raise na naman ito to 4," he said. "Kung kinakailangan para sa mass repatriation we have to try to use all means to take out our people from Syria," he added. — LBG, GMA News