PHNO-HL: PHILIPPINES SETS PLAN TO EVACUATE 8,000 PINOYS IN SYRIA

PHILIPPINES SETS PLAN TO EVACUATE 8,000 PINOYS
IN SYRIA
[PHOTO -ROAD TO DAMASCUS In
this image from an amateur video released by the Shaam News Network, Syrians in
Idlib, north Syria, flash victory signs to celebrate the brazen attack that
killed key security officials in the inner circle of President Bashar Assad in
Damascus on Wednesday. AP]
MANILA, JULY
22, 2012 (INQUIRER) Citing "escalating
violence" in Syria, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said it
would deploy a "rapid response team" to assist the Philippine Embassy in
Damascus in repatriating 8,000 Filipinos in the strife-torn Middle East country.

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the team would be composed of officers
from the departments of foreign affairs, labor and the interior.
Hernandez said that since March, 1,806 OFWs had been repatriated under a
mandatory evacuation program.
Of the 8,000 Filipinos still in Syria only around 1,300 had expressed
willingness to return home. They include 130 staying at the embassy's quarters
in Damascus.
But as the situation worsens, Hernandez said he expected the number of
returnees to increase.
'Strategic silence'
He said the embassy's charge d'affaires, Olivia Palala, was doing everything
to implement the evacuation.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the embassy would remain
open "as long as we have OFWs there who need help."
Instead of condemning the atrocities committed by the Syrian government, the
Philippines is "maintaining strategic silence on the situation in Syria as we
are focused on the safety and welfare of several thousands of our people who
remain there," Del Rosario said. Jerry E. Esplanada

FROM ASIAONE ONLINE
Filipinos charged over $12,000 to flee Syria: Manila
AFP
Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012

[PHOTO - Scores of "gullible" Filipinos are being tricked into going to
work in Syria each month despite an official ban on travel to the
violence-wracked country ... www.asiaone.com]
MANILA - Filipino workers trying to flee the unrest in Syria are being
charged up to US$10,000 (S$12,624) by their employers before they can leave, the
foreign department in Manila said on Tuesday.
Syrian employers are demanding that they be refunded large amounts they paid
for the deployment of Philippine staff, foreign department spokesman Raul
Hernandez told reporters.
"The problem now is the employers are asking more money for the refund of the
deployment cost. Before it was only $4,000 per worker and now it's even reaching
up to $10,000 dollars," he said.
Hernandez said the embassy often had to negotiate with the employers to
accept a lower amount because the workers could not afford to pay that much.

Another problem is that Filipino workers are continuing to arrive, brought in
by illegal labour recruiters in Syria, despite the violence plaguing the
country, he said.
He warned people not to be "duped" by offers of high-paying jobs.
The Philippines has already repatriated over 1,800 Filipinos from Syria but
is still processing the papers for more than 1,000 others, Hernandez said.
The increasing violence was making it harder to get them out, he said, as he
appealed to all Filipinos in Syria to go to the embassy and seek help to be
repatriated.
In June, the government estimated that there were 7,000 Filipinos in Syria,
many of them working as domestic helpers.
The Philippine government banned Filipinos from working in Syria and ordered
a mandatory evacuation of its nationals there in December, some 10 months after
an uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad broke out.
About nine million Filipinos work around the world, earning more money in a
wide range of skilled and unskilled jobs abroad than they could in their
impoverished homeland.


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet

This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.

To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/

(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/