MANILA, 22 July 2006 — Another group of 106 Filipino workers left Beirut for Damascus, Syria, yesterday and they will be flown to Manila together with the first group of 192 who fled the Lebanese capital on Thursday, officials said yesterday.
Reporting from Beirut, Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu said the second group left by bus at 9 a.m. local time and were expected to be in Damascus at 5 p.m.
Cimatu reported to a command conference of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday that he himself took the overland route from Damascus to Beirut and described it as safe, although there was some delay at the border because of the many evacuees crossing the border.
Thousands of expatriates, including Americans and Europeans were being evacuated from Lebanon as fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah appeared to escalate. Israeli forces started bombing targets in Lebanon last week in a bid to force the Hezbollah from releasing two soldiers captured by the guerrillas near the Lebanese-Israeli borders.
Cimatu said the Philippine Embassy in Beirut is encouraging the estimated 30,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Lebanon, mostly domestic help, to band together and seek shelter from Christian churches or the embassy.
Yesterday’s teleconference was jointly presided over by Vice President Noli de Castro, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and presidential Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said the government has chartered an Emirates Airlines to take the fleeing OFWs home from Damascus last night. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis was in Damascus to oversee preparations for the flight back to Manila, Arab News learned.
Conejos said the number of those seeking repatriation is changing because individual OFWs were being made to decide whether to leave or not. Conejos instructed Philippine charge d’ affaires to Beirut, Walter Salmingo, to prioritize the departure of the second batch and efforts to coordinate with the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain for possible assistance those countries may extend toward efforts to repatriate Filipinos in Lebanon.
“The third priority for you is to execute the president’s promise to the Thai prime minister to assist the 100 Thais in Lebanon. If any of them request to leave, put them inside the relocation centers for eventual repatriation,” Conejos further instructed Salmingo. Salmingo said 240 OFWs remain in the relocation sites, while 1,572 have registered with the embassy for possible relocation when the situation worsens.
Routes to Israel and Jordan were discounted after Philippine Ambassador to Israel Antonio Modena reported that these routes are dangerous. ((With a report by the Inquirer News Service)
