Government asked to account for undocumented OFWs in Lebanon

MANILA, Philippines — The government is being urged to account for the thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in conflict-stricken Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East.

Migration expert Manny Geslani renewed his call for the Department of Migrant Workers and Department of Foreign Affairs to help undocumented OFWs whose passports were confiscated by their employers.

Geslani said hundreds of OFWs have already been repatriated by the government, but all of them were documented and not one is undocumented.

But the Philippine embassy in Beirut said it has already discussed with the Ministry of Labor of Lebanon the cases of OFWs who were prevented from leaving the country by their employers amid the ongoing conflict.

The embassy said Philippine ambassador Raymond Balatbat called on Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram to discuss the situation of Filipino workers and submitted a list of 22 cases.

Bayram expressed his support for allowing the workers, mostly female domestic workers, to leave the country due to the ongoing conflict and would coordinate the cases with General Security.

The embassy also said it is coordinating with Lebanese authorities to expedite the release of exit clearances for undocumented Filipinos to join the chartered flight departing Lebanon in the next few days.

The embassy advised Filipinos to prepare their passports and iqamas for the repatriation flight.?Filipinos are strongly urged to avail themselves of the voluntary repatriation program. — Pia Lee-Brago