22 August 2013 – The Philippine Embassies in Syria and Lebanon assisted in the cross-border repatriation of 53 OFWs from Syria on 21 August 2013. This is the 26th cross-border repatriation undertaken by the two Philippine Embassies. The repatriation of this particular batch of OFWs from Syria was made successful with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which provided the airline tickets and meals.

In the morning of 21 August 2013, an Embassy team composed of Vice Consul Dennis John Briones and Labor Attaché Bulyok Nilong, along with IOM staff, was at the Masna’a border to receive the 53 OFWs from the officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus and the Rapid Response Team (RRT). After completing the immigration formalities at the border, the 53 OFWs travelled to Beirut and arrived at the Embassy in the late afternoon to rest and prepare for their flight. Before their departure for the airport at 9:15 PM, Ambassador Leah M. Basinang-Ruiz and her spouse, Mr. Ricardo Ruiz, met the repatriates and wished them a safe trip back to the Philippines.

An airport team from the Embassy composed of Vice Consul Rona Beth Goce as team leader, Information Officer Edwin Batallones as member and OWWA Administrative Staff Joselito Sunga as driver, together with an IOM staff, assisted the repatriates in completing the security, airline and immigration procedures at the Rafik Hariri International Airport. The group left Beirut for Manila as scheduled at 1:25 AM of 22 August 2013 via Qatar Airways flight QR 423.

To date, a total of 1,502 OFWs have been repatriated from Syria via Lebanon since the cross-border operation commenced on 12 December 2012. END