The Department of Foreign Affairs has sent a three-man Rapid Response Team to Lebanon to help in facilitating the repatriation process from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.
The voluntary repatriation program of the Philippine government is in response to the large number of OFWs in Lebanon who requested assistance to go home, amidst the ongoing financial crisis in that country.
OUMWA Executive Director, Atty. Enrico T. Fos said that the response team will help organize the repatriation of distressed OFWs back to the Philippines.
The first batch of repatriates will depart Lebanon on December 21, 2019 in time for the holiday festivities with their families.
“More than 1,000 Filipinos, mostly women with some children in tow, arrived in droves to the Philippine embassy in Beirut to register for free mass repatriation scheduled in February next year,” the embassy said in a statement.
Some Filipino domestic workers have complained about abuses from their employers but they cannot leave because their travel documents are being witheld by their employers.
Reports from The Department of Foreign Affairs state that there are about 27,812 Filipinos in Lebanon in 2015.
