13 September 2021 - The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon repatriated 280 overseas Filipinos on 12 September 2021 in a sweeper flight that also passed through Manama, Bahrain before proceeding to Manila. Filling almost three-fourth of an Airbus A330, this group represented the Embassy’s largest batch of repatriates for the year and was primarily composed of undocumented and distressed Filipinos in Lebanon and included five (5) repatriates from Syria who joined the sweeper flight at the Beirut airport.
H.E. Raymond R. Balatbat, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon, personally sent off the repatriates at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (BRHIA). Repatriates eagerly thanked the Embassy for extending much needed assistance-to-nationals (ATN) services for various cases covering migration-related, legal, medical, and social welfare concerns. Provision of such ATN services are critical to clear and eventually enable concerned OFWs to be successfully repatriated.
Through this repatriation flight, the Philippine Embassy sent home two-thirds of its shelter wards housed in the Migrant Worker and Other Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC), drastically relieving the MWOFRC as the facility had been functioning at maximum capacity. The MWOFRC experienced a spike in the number of wards recently as Lebanon reels from its worst ever economic crisis.
The Embassy also repatriated two Filipinos who suffered from certain health conditions that required wheelchair assistance. Given the difficulty of accessing medical aid amid the crisis and the pandemic, such cases are given special attention and priority.
Repatriates arrived safely in Manila on 13 September 2021 and were received by DFA personnel to assist them with quarantine procedures. Onward flights to their respective provinces will be shouldered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Even with the deployment ban on hiring new household service workers (HSWs) bound for Lebanon, the bulk of cases remain to be those who have been victims of illegal recruitment and human trafficking. These OFs and their children are most vulnerable to various forms of abuse given their undocumented status.
Considering the current situation in Lebanon and the plight of OFs therein, the Philippine Embassy commits to continue providing unhampered ATN services and bringing home distressed Filipinos through revitalizing linkages with local and international stakeholders. END.
