ANOTHER batch of 21 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from war-torn Syria arrived yesterday afternoon at the NAIA.

Administrator Carmelita Dimzon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said the repatriated workers have availed of the mandatory repatriation program offered by the government thru the Philippine Embassy in Damascus  as it  raised alert level  number 4 in December last year.  

Since the onset of alert level 4, the OWWA Repatriation Team extended airport assistance, provided temporary shelter and counseling to arriving OFWs from Syria, she said.

Dimzon also said that the release of the workers from their respective employers was made possible through the extensive efforts by the combined team from the departments of labor and foreign affairs and the OWWA. 

Exit clearances were granted to the workers after the employers agreed to allow them to leave the conflict-torn country. There are at least 5,000 OFWs who had registered at the Philippine Embassy in Damascus awaiting to be flown home. More Filipino migrant workers are expected to register at the embassy.                       

As usual, the OWWA repatriation team was at the NAIA to provide assistance in going through immigration and customs formalities for the OFWs who will also be briefed on the government’s reintegration program and the livelihood assistance program.

Under the said programs, the government will ascertain the skills of the returning OFWs  and train them to be self-sufficient and gainfully employed. At the same time, the workers will have the option to undergo basic entrepreneurship through the livelihood assistance program to start their own micro businesses.          

The repatriates will be offered temporary shelter at the OWWA Halfway Home and will be assisted with their transportation needs for their onward travel to their respective provinces. An OWWA counseling team will also be around  to conduct stress debriefing. 
Itchie G. Cabayan