Livelihood assured for 40 OFWs home from Syria

At least 40 overseas Filipino workers who availed of voluntary repatriation from strife-torn Syria have arrived home Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, even as government reassured them of livelihood assistance. The Department of Foreign Affairs said 31 Filipinos arrived aboard a Qatar Airways flight Tuesday night, even as radio dzBB reported a second batch of nine arrived at 4:06 p.m. Wednesday. In its report early Thursday, dzBB said the repatriated OFWs were to stay at the halfway house of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Pasay City. In a news release, the DFA said the bulk of the repatriates were household service workers (HSWs) "who were victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment." "Most of them had labor issues, such as being overworked, maltreatment, and low or nonpayment of wages," it added. The DFA said 102 Filipinos have been repatriated from Syria from March to August 2011. As of September 13, at least 754 Filipinos have requested repatriation since the raising to Alert Level 3 across Syria. Of these, 584 cases are under negotiations by the Embassy as augmented by the Rapid Reaction Team (RRT). "The Embassy and the RRT are in intensive negotiations with employers to allow the Filipinos to leave their employ and get exit visas for their immediate repatriation to the Philippines," the DFA said. Intensified repatriation efforts Likewise, the DFA said that the Philippine Embassy in Damascus headed by Charge d’Affaires Ricardo Endaya has intensified its efforts to repatriate Filipinos from Syria. Last Aug. 16, the DFA raised the alert level in Syria to "3" and had asked Filipinos there to avail of voluntary repatriation. On September 6, the Overseas Preparedness and Response Team deployed a 10-member Rapid Reaction Team (RRT) to Syria to help repatriate Filipinos there. The team included officials from the DFA, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). In Manila, the DFA organized the Task Group on Voluntary Repatriation-Syria. Relatives of Filipinos in Syria living in the Philippines may call the following numbers: 834-4617, 834-4618, 834-4619, 834-4620, 834-4621, 834-4622, 834-4623, 834-4624, 834-3245 and 834-3240 (from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M., Monday to Sunday); 834-3333 and 834-4997 (from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., Monday to Sunday). They may also send text messages at +639275768621 or +639158445546. Queries and request for assistance may also be sent via email at dfa.repat@gmail.com or pe.damascus@gmail.com. Filipinos in Syria may call the Philippine Embassy in Damascus at the dedicated hotline numbers +96311-6132626 (landline), and +96393-2176214 and +96399-0270464 (mobile) to seek assistance and information from the Embassy. DOLE assistance For its part, the Department of Labor and Employment assured the OFWs of grant assistance under the DOLE’s Balik-Pinay Balik Hanap-buhay Program. "Our labor attaché in Syria has reported that the ... women OFWs have been fully briefed at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on how to avail of the services of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, even if only nine of them are fully documented," Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in a news release posted on the DOLE website. Baldoz also instructed the OWWA and the NRCO to enroll the repatriates under the Balik-Pinay Balik Hanap-buhay Program. Baldoz said there are now 705 OFWs who have registered with the Philippine Embassy to avail of voluntary repatriation, including 105 at the Filipino Workers Resource Center. The Balik-Pinay Balik Hanap-buhay Program, initially for distressed returning women OFWs, now includes in its coverage returning male OFWs. Under the program, beneficiaries receive a package of entrepreneurial assistance in the form of training provided either by TESDA or the Department of Trade and Industry and a P10,000 capital to start a home-based business, such as reflexology; cosmetology; production of bath soap, scented oils, herbal medication, and skin health treatment; manicure/pedicure; fashion accessories repair, and food processing. At least 920 repatriated OFWs have received some P9,168,508.40 from the financial livelihood assistance component of the program, distributed regionally as follows: