25 Filipino repatriates to arrive from Syria

MANILA, Philippines - Twenty-five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Syria are scheduled to arrive at the Philippines on Tuesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the repatriates will arrive at 4 p.m. aboard Emirates Airlines flight EK-332 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The International Organization for Migration in Damascus will shoulder the airfare of the 25 OFWs. They will travel first by land from Damascus to Beirut on Monday.

The Philippine Embassy in Beirut will escort the repatriates as they cross the Lebanese Masna'a border.

According to the DFA, the arrival of the 25 OFWs tomorrow will bring the total number of repatriates from war-torn Syria to 5,604. Around 2,560 of them were repatriated through Lebanon with the support of the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.

Another batch of 22 OFWs will be repatriated soon as the Syrian Immigration and Passport Directorate granted them exit visas.

The Philippine Embassy in Damascus is coordinating with the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in Syria for granting exit visas for OFWs.

The Philippine government has an ongoing Mandatory Repatriation Program for OFWs in Syria.

"The embassy may be reached through the following contact details: telephone numbers 00963-11-6132626, 00963-949155557, 00963-934957926 and e-mail address: [email protected]," the DFA said in a statement.

Kins of OFWs remaining in Syria are encouraged to provide information about their relative's whereabouts so that the government could assist them..

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