THE Philippine authorities will remove forcibly the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) out of Homs to ensure their safety amidst the worsening of violence in Syria.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, in a statement issued yesterday, said they may need to resort to extraction of OFWs and activate the Philippines’ rapid response team to help the distressed Filipinos in Syria.
“From our visit to Damascus two weeks ago, we had anticipated a probable escalation of violence which resulted in our bringing in an additional team of negotiators to focus on mandatory repatriation. Based on new developments in Homs, we may need to go one step further and resort to a strategy of extraction. For this we will activate our rapid response team made up of PNP, DOLE and DFA personnel. So rather than reduce the operating teams, to help our distressed nationals, we are expanding to do what is necessary,” Del Rosario said in his statement.
The non-essential folks such as the families of embassy staff will also be sent home.
There are still more than 150 OFWs in Homs that will be subject to extraction.
Meanwhile, Del Rosario assured they will not close the Philippine Embassy in Libya.
“As in Libya, for as long as we have OFWs that need help, our embassy will continue to operate as mandated by the President. We have no plans for closing,” he stressed.
The Philippine Embassy in Damascus continues to assist thousands of Filipinos who are working in Syria and ensure their safety and welfare there.
Earlier, the Embassy said they are working on the instruction of Del Rosario to fully and effectively implement crisis alert level 4 (mandatory repatriation) due to the security situation in that country.
Thirty-five OFWs who availed of the Philippine government’s offer to repatriate them to the Philippines arrived yesterday and another batch of 41 OFWs is scheduled to arrive today (Feb 9).
The cost of airfare of the 41 will be shouldered by the International Organization for Migration.
A total of 868 OFWs have been repatriated from Syria since March 2011.
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