With the escalating violence in Syria, the Philippine government pressed the go button for the mass evacuation of at least 17,000 Filipinos trapped in the raging conflict.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday raised the crisis alert level in the troubled Middle East state from alert level 3, which means voluntary evacuation, to alert level 4 or mandatory evacuation.
The DFA said the government will shoulder the travel expenses of all Filipinos wanting to leave Syria.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the directive covers the entire country and takes effect immediately.
DFA Executive Director for Migrant Workers Affairs Ricardo Endaya was sent to Syria to head the government’s evacuation efforts.
“I have likewise instructed our embassy to assess the situation and submit daily reports, and an action and financial plan for the full implementation of Alert Level 4,” Del Rosario said.
In Damascus, the Philippine Embassy there had been briefing Filipinos on the government’s contingency plans.
While preparing to move out of Syria, they are advised to keep their communication lines open with the embassy and their community coordinators and inform them of their whereabouts.
They are further advised to contact the embassy so that arrangements could be made for their immediate repatriation.
Last week, 51 Filipinos sought evacuation, bringing to 383 the total number of evacuees since voluntary repatriation was ordered by the government this year.
An estimated 17,000 Filipinos, mostly housemaids, are in Syria but only 5,000 are registered at the embassy.
Amid dismal turnout of Filipino evacuees, the Philippine government has continued to urge them to leave before the political crisis turns for the worse and force a close down of all airports and major transport routes.
The United Nations recently stepped up international pressure on the Syrian government when it released a report confirming torture and killing of civilians by state security forces during the eight-month-old crackdown on protests, in a move that could initiate action by the powerful UN Security Council.
Organizing mass evacuations for Filipinos in conflict-stricken states has proven difficult for the government in the past as many refused to leave and return to the Philippines for fear of losing their jobs.
Philippine officials also admitted having a hard time convincing Syrian employers to let go of their Filipino domestic helpers in Syria. Most employers treat the uprising in Syria as an isolated case but said they are willing to release them provided the Philippine government refunds the deployment fee that they paid for when they hired the Filipino maids.
The Philippines is a major labor-exporting nation with about 8.6 million skilled and unskilled workers scattered abroad, earning more than they could in the country where jobs are scarce and poverty is widespread. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune
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