PHL intensifies repatriation efforts for Pinoys in Syria

Amid a reported lull in fighting in Syria, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) further intensified Philippine government efforts to repatriate Filipinos out of the troubled country. The DFA instructed the Philippine Embassy in Damascus to take advantage of the withdrawal of rebel forces from Homs, and the possibility of a humanitarian corridor there. "I have instructed the Embassy to take advantage of the lull in the fighting to extract all Filipinos from the conflict areas of Homs, Hama, Idlib and Dara'a," DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a news release.  Del Rosario said a Rapid Response Team (RRT) will also set up additional extraction outposts in and around the conflict areas to facilitate the extraction and repatriation of Filipinos. The RRT has personnel from the DFA, Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Interior and Local Government (DILG). It has remained in Syria to help out in the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in conflict areas. The Philippines has declared Crisis alert level 4 over Syria, which entails the mandatory repatriation of all Filipinos from the country is underway. Meanwhile, the DFA reiterated its call to the families of OFWs in Syria, especially those in conflict areas like Homs, Hama, Dara'a, and Idlib, to provide information on the whereabouts of their relatives and their latest contact details. Interested parties may call the DFA's Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) at (02) 834-3245 or (02) 834-3240. - VVP, GMA News