By Roy Mabasa and Betheena Unite
Around 400 Filipinos in Lebanon, including the remains of four individuals who died in the powerful Beirut explosions, will be repatriated to the Philippines on August 16, 2020 via a chartered flight paid for by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
"The President heard the clamor of our kababayans. This chartered flight is the most concrete, immediate and timely assistance that the Department of Foreign Affairs could provide given the current situation in Lebanon," the DFA’s Office of Migrant Workers Affairs said in a statement.
Since December 2019, the DFA has been mounting repatriation activities from Lebanon to arrest the worsening condition of Filipinos in the country due to the global economic downturn. So far, it has successfully brought home at least 1,508 Filipinos from that country.
Philippine Embassy estimates put the number of Filipinos in the entire Lebanon to about 33,000, many of them undocumented and employed as household service workers.
Meanwhile, 11 more Filipinos were reported injured while another was reported missing following the massive blasts that rocked the Port of Beirut.
The new report brings the total number of Filipinos injured in the blast at 42, with two missing.
“By day’s end yesterday (Friday), the number of injured OFWs stands at 42, an increase of eleven from the previous report. We were also alerted that another Filipino was reported missing, increasing the number to two. The number of Filipino fatalities, meanwhile, remains at four,” Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said.
Arriola added that the DFA, through the Philippine embassy in Beirut, continues to ascertain the condition of the Filipinos affected by the blasts that rocked the port city earlier this week.
New reports came in with the ground operations clearing more area, and embassy personnel receiving additional reports.
The department previously stated that it expects the number of affected Filipinos to increase further considering the magnitude of the destruction.
“The numbers are still being finalized but there were already 230 listed before the blast happened,” the DFA said.
According to DFA data, there are approximately 33,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, 75 percent of whom are concentrated in the Greater Beirut area.