Many deported OFWs suffered abuses in Lebanon, BI reveals

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported Wednesday that many of the deported overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon have experienced maltreatment from abusive employers and illegal recruiters.

Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) recounted how the 163 repatriated Filipinos suffered abuses while working in Beirut.

Lawyer Arvin Santos, BI airport operations division chief, said the repatriated Filipinos include prisoners who have served their sentences in Lebanese jails and part-time OFWs who sought assistance from the Philippine embassy in Beirut.

“Many of them recounted their ordeal in Lebanon and claimed to have experienced physical, verbal and other forms of maltreatment from abusive employers and their illegal recruiters,” Santos said.

He said many of the repatriated OFWs went to Lebanon early this year or late last year in defiance of the government’s deployment ban.

BI officers at the NAIA processed the first batch of 90 distressed OFWs who arrived from Lebanon last week. Another batch of 23 arrived on Nov. 15 while a third group of 50 arrived the following day.

The relentless campaign of the bureau in preventing the departure of Lebanon-bound overseas Filipino workers has earned a positive remark from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as part of the government’s intensified campaign against trafficking in persons.

In a letter to BI acting chief Ronaldo Ledesma, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Gilberto Asuque said his office is closely following the BI’s efforts to prevent the departure of OFWs bound for Beirut.

Asuque commended the BI for ensuring that only OFWs with clearances from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration are allowed to leave the country and stopping those bound to countries such as Lebanon, where the Philippines has an existing deployment ban.

He noted that most Beirut-bound OFWs being offloaded by immigration officers at the premier port and other airports nationwide are victims of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

The envoy explained that the ban aims to put OFWs out of harm’s way and from abuses and other forms of maltreatment that usually arise from illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

The Aquino government launched an intensified campaign against human trafficking shortly after taking office through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking headed by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, who is also the undersecretary-in-charge of the bureau.

Meanwhile, about 80 OFWs in Libya benefitted from the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DoLE) regular skills enhancement program through its overseas offices.

DoLE’s Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO)-Libya Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa said in a statement that their office together with the Filipino community in Gargaresh, Tripoli conducted an advance computer, culinary, and dressmaking training for OFWs to augment their livelihood.

“In pursuit of the agenda of assisting OFWs in achieving financial stability through training, investment and savings programs, the POLO in Libya further enhanced its computer literacy program and has added culinary arts and dressmaking as courses for OFWs to enroll in,” Mustafa said. (With a report from Samuel Medenilla)