OFWs sneaking into Lebanon

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has asked airport authorities to tighten the monitoring of departing Filipino workers following reports that many of them had sneaked into Lebanon in defiance of a government ban on the deployment of workers to the war-ravaged country.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said the Lebanon-bound workers — mostly domestic helpers — were able to leave the Philippines because they had "escorts."

"We do not know the exact number but we have feedback that quite a number of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) have flown to Lebanon and it looks like that what happened in Iraq is also happening now in Lebanon," Baldoz said. "(So) we requested a tightened monitoring at the airport to stop illegal deployment through so-called escort system." The "escorts" were believed to be airport personnel.

The reports of illegal deployment of Filipino workers to Lebanon came out just as the government was busy repatriating thousands of OFWs from the war-torn country.

Sources from the local recruitment industry said the workers were able to enter Lebanon from Syria.

"In fact, some Lebanon agents are here in Manila to ensure that the Filipino workers would be able to fly to Lebanon," an industry source said.

POEA has stopped processing job orders for Lebanon since Malacañang’s imposition of a deployment ban two months ago. Many Filipinos desperate for jobs had ignored a similar government ban on deployment to Iraq.

Local recruitment agencies bewail that the government is either helpless or not determined enough to stop some unscrupulous airport personnel from escorting workers with dubious overseas employment papers.

Of some 30,000 Filipino workers in Lebanon, 5,000 have already returned to the Philippines. Many Filipinos have opted to stay and keep their jobs in Lebanon, according to government officials.

Earlier, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the government was assessing the situation in Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. He stressed however that the ban would remain until the situation in Lebanon stabilized.