Overseas Filipinos, who became victims of illegal recruitment and trafficking in Syria, have been repatriated by the Philippine government recently.
The Philippine Embassy in Syria repatriated 22 survivors of trafficking in persons (TIP) and illegal recruitment on June 26. The Embassy further stated that the Philippines had held long diplomatic negotiations with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and filed cases against the illegal recruiters and human traffickers.
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Meanwhile, the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) Shelter at the Philippine Embassy in Syria declared that all its wards had been emptied following the transfer of the last batch of trafficking and illegal recruitment survivors to the Philippines.
One of the female repatriates said that she once lost all hope of repatriation. She thanked the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Syria for the opportunity to fly home as she boarded the return flight to Manila.
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She also narrated her three-year ordeal in the shelter that arose from difficulties in securing their exit visas from the employers and the recruitment agencies.
Earlier, Philippines Charge d’Affaires Vida Versoza had been dispatched by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. in February 2021 to help the trafficked Filipinos who were reportedly maltreated inside the Embassy shelter. (AW)
