The Philippine Online Chronicles

The latest batch of OFWS, mostly domestic workers, arrived from war-torn Syria on board Qatar Airlines flight QR646 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport yesterday afternoon. Despite this, a global alliance of overseas Filipinos and families expressed dissatisfaction over the Aquino government's 'unsystematic and slow' repatriation efforts.

Migrante International said the government's repatriation of OFWs in Syria is “slow, sporadic and in trickles.” The group said more intensified and systematic repatriation efforts should be in place as US-NATO and the Arab League are positioning to strike war-torn Syria.”

According to Gina Esguerra, “the repatriation process is still slow despite the very clear and present danger to our kababayans. We fail to see a system in the government’s efforts. No blueprint is available to Filipinos there.”

The Philippine Embassy in Damascus estimates that there are 14,927 OFWs in Syria, but only 1,422 are documented, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office report. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) officials said the repatriation of more than 200 OFWs in Syria are being finalized, while 447 more OFWs are being negotiated by the Philippine government with their respective employers for the next batch of repatriation.

But Migrante said that the government's lack of accurate figure on the total number of OFWs in Syria reflects in the inefficient and disorganized system of repatriation.

Slow repatriation

Migrante also slammed the government for “making excuses” and “justifying its slow repatriation process” by saying that OFWs do not wish to be repatriated or that they are finding it difficult to shoulder deployment costs to disgruntled employers.

“All these do not give good reason for the slow process. It was the government that imposed Alert Level 4, they were the ones who issued a blanket forced repatriation policy, the issues they are raising now should have been taken into account before they enforced the policy,” Esguerra said.

Last December, the government raised alert level 4 in Syria, signaling the start of mandatory repatriation. The Department of Labor and Employment also appealed to prospective Filipino workers to consider not going to Syria to work on account of the civil unrest engulfing that country

Mysterious OFW death

Last January 8, Violeta Cortez, a Filipino domestic worker in Syria, was found dead under mysterious circumstances after she repeatedly appealed for immediate repatriation through a local radio station. Cortez reportedly died at the al-Mujtahed hospital in Damascus due to a head trauma she sustained from an alleged hit-and-run accident on January 5.

A report from the Midan Police Station in Syria stated that Cortez was found unconscious at the al-Mutahalek bridge in Damascus. Authorities believed she was a victim of hit and run. The police report said Cortez's employer said she left his house at the al-Assad suburbs last January 5, and that he did not know about the accident until the police summoned him.

But Migrante Middle East said Cortez left her employer’s house to make his way to the Philippine Embassy in Damascus to seek their assistance.

In one of her interviews over DZMM, Cortez said, “Grabe po, kami po, buhay po namin ang nakataya dito. Gusto po namin makita na ang gobyerno po ay kunin kami dito sa bahay-bahay, kasi ‘yung iba po wala pong cell phone, ay nakakaawa po, sinasaktan po ng amo.’Yung iba nga po gusto ko matulungan, hindi naman po ako makalabas,” dagdag niya.

The Philippine Embassy in Damascus has elevated the case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria "so that a full and speedy investigation is conducted with a view to determining the true circumstances of Cortez’s death."