THE Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, has chartered a repatriation flight to bring home Filipinos from Lebanon, which is reeling from a massive explosion while fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
The flight scheduled on August 16 will also bring home the remains of Filipino victims of the August 4 explosions at a warehouse with a stockpile of over 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in Beirut Port. The explosions killed 135 people and injured 5,000. Two overseas Filipino workers were killed and 31 were injured.
Earlier, 11 of 13 Filipino seafarers onboard a boat docked at the port went missing, after jumping into the waters at the height of the explosion. They have since been found.
“The President heard the clamor of our kababayans. This chartered flight is the most concrete, immediate and timely assistance that the Department of Foreign Affairs could provide given the current situation in Lebanon,” said Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola on Friday.
Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the DFA began its repatriation activities from Lebanon to arrest the worsening condition of Filipinos in the country grappling with a steadily declining economy.
“Since December 2019, the Department has repatriated at least 1,508 Filipinos from Lebanon. When Covid-19 struck, the DFA moved to provide assistance to our overseas Filipinos in the country,” Arriola added.
For additional public information on the chartered flight, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut may be reached through the following:
Telephones – +961 3859430,
+961 81334836, +961 71474416, +961 70681060 and +961 70858086
E-mail – beirutpe@gmail.com
Facebook – Philippine Embassy in Lebanon.
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