Despite growing tension between Israel and Hezbollah, hundreds of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon are hesitant to leave the country out of fear they would not receive financial assistance from the government should they return to the Philippines, according to migrant expert Emmanuel Geslani.
“There are 5,000 to 6,000 Filipino domestic workers stranded in Lebanon and want to leave the country. However, most of them are hesitant to register with the Philippine Embassy due to their status as undocumented,” Geslani said.
Citing reports from the Philippine Embassy through Ambassador Marcelo Balatbat, he said there are 11,000 documented OFWs in Lebanon, including more than 3,000 domestic workers.
Geslani said few OFWs in Lebanon voluntarily applied for repatriation since the tension between Israel and Hezbollah escalated because of the rigorous investigation by the Lebanese Ministry of Immigration on their legal stay in Lebanon.
“Most of these illegal…workers in Lebanon did not register with the embassy and failed to pay the US$25 OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) fee,” Geslani said.
However, the OWWA clarified that even those who have not paid the $25-contribution are still eligible for financial assistance and other support services from itself, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and other government agencies.
Geslani strongly urged the Philippine Embassy in Beirut to step up its effort to lure OFWs, whether undocumented, to voluntarily repatriate and erase the doubts that they would not be excluded from government assistance once they returned home.
