MORE than 300 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are expected to arrive from war-torn Lebanon this month, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Tuesday.
The Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Beirut is still helping more than 200 migrant Filipinos get cleared by Lebanese Immigration so they could get repatriated, DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Q. Bay told a virtual news briefing.
Fifty Filipinos will come home on Nov. 8 and 45 more on Nov. 9, plus five dependents, she said. Twenty more OFWs are schedule to arrive on Nov. 13.
Ms. Bay said there are three shelters in Beirut and nearby areas that house 166 OFWs.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac said no Filipino had been harmed so far since hostilities in the country erupted last year. “We continue to monitor the situation on the ground. Our services are available through our shelters.”
The DMW chief said assistance is available to OFWs who wish to come home but need to convince their employers. Lebanese employers have mostly been cooperative, he added.
After arrival, the OFWs will receive P150,000 in cash assistance from DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA).
Returning OFWs will also get immediate medical attention from the Department of Health, livelihood assistance from the Social Welfare department and skill training vouchers from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Tensions in the region intensified after Hamas launched missile attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that supports Gaza, attacked Israel to show solidarity. Alert Level 3 is in effect in Lebanon, allowing Filipinos to opt for voluntary repatriation.
More than 3,000 people have died in Lebanon since late September, Reuters reported. Israeli airstrikes and widespread detonation of homes destroyed more than 40,000 housing units in the country’s border, it said, citing Lebanon’s state news agency. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana