DFA brings home 18 distressed Pinoys from Lebanon
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
Eighteen distressed Filipino workers from Lebanon were repatriated last week by the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday, April 3.
In a statement through the DFA, the embassy reported that it sent home 18 distressed Filipino workers on March 29 and 30.
The number includes seven shelter wards, 10 undocumented workers, and one detainee.
“In coordination with relevant Lebanese authorities, the Embassy facilitated their clearances from immigration liabilities due to their undocumented status in Lebanon,” the statement said.
Since the first quarter of 2023, the embassy already repatriated a total of 25 distressed Filipino workers.
The Filipino repatriates expressed their gratitude to the embassy “for facilitating their long-awaited return to the Philippines,” the embassy stated.
Alice (not her real name) shared that she had been working in Lebanon for more than 30 years, but had to seek shelter in the embassy after she suffered from health conditions that disabled her from working effectively.
Another Filipino stressed the importance of the embassy’s role in reuniting her and her eight-year-old daughter, who she left when she was only five months old.
According to the embassy, the Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Section will continue extending assistance to distressed Filipinos in Lebanon “given the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions in the country affecting vulnerable migrants.”
It is committed to do so until the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Lebanon becomes fully operational.