Another batch of 21 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from war-torn Syria will arrive today via Emirates Airways flight EK 332 at 4:20 p.m., the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said.
The repatriated workers had availed themselvers of the mandatory repatriation program offered by the government through the Philippine Embassy in Damascus as it raised alert level 4 in Dec. last year.
Since the onset of alert level 4, OWWA Repatriation Team extended airport assistance, provided temporary shelter and counseling to arriving OFWs from Syria.
OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said that the release of the workers from their respective employers was made possible through the extensive efforts by the combined team of DFA, DoLE and 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.
The OWWA Repatriation Team will be at the NAIA to provide assistance in going through immigration and customs formalities.
The OFWs will be briefed on the government’s Reintegration Program specifically the “Balik-Pinay, balik-Hanapbuhay” Program and the Livelihood assistance program and the P2B OFW Reintegration Program.
Under the “Balik Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay” scheme, DoLE-OWWA 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. DoLE-OWWA will monitor the progress of their business venture.
The repatriates will be offered temporary shelter at the OWWA Halfway Home and will be assisted with their transportation needs for their travel to their respective provinces. An OWWA Counseling Team will be around to conduct stress debriefing.
Meanwhile, the “Libreng Tawag sa Syria” of OWWA continues to assist family members of OFWs in Syria to communicate with their spouses, children or relatives whose whereabouts or condition they would like to ascertain. The facility is open at the OWWA National Capital Region in Pasay city and in all OWWA Regional Offices throughout the country.
Source: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120221nat3.html
