The government has repatriated about 430 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon since October 2023, and the repatriation will push through amid the increasing escalation between Israel forces and Hezbollah, the Department of Migrant Workers said.
DMW OIC-Undersecretary for Foreign Employment and Welfare Services Felicitas Bay said the government is continuing its voluntary repatriation since the alert raised by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the Middle Eastern country was only at Level 3.
“Again this is a call for all Filipinos not only OFWs but for Filipinos in Lebanon to heed the call of [the] government for voluntary repatriation,” Bay said.
There are over 11,000 Filipinos with their dependents in Lebanon, she said.
Registration is ongoing for those who wish to return home, she said. The list already has about 1,100 individuals who want to be repatriated, according to Bay. However, some of them changed their mind, she said.
In October last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised the alert to level 3 in Lebanon. Under the said alert level, the processing of Balik-Manggagawa application and the return of contract workers to Lebanon are suspended.
Lebanon’s army on Sunday meanwhile warned Lebanese against actions that would disturb public order in the crisis-hit country after Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
The army in a statement said that it “calls on citizens to preserve national unity and not to be drawn into actions that may affect civil peace at this dangerous and delicate stage” following the massive Friday strike that killed Nasrallah and as Israeli attacks continue.
“The Israeli enemy is working to implement its destructive plans and sow division among Lebanese,” the army statement added.
Tiny Lebanon has long been divided along sectarian lines which had contributed to a devastating civil war in 1975-1990.
Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim movement that wields great power in Lebanon’s south and whose military might is widely believed to dwarf Lebanon’s national armed forces, has drawn criticism from some Lebanese politicians over its decision to open a “support front” against Israel over the Gaza war nearly a year ago.
A Lebanese army official told Agence France Presse (AFP) troops had been deployed since Saturday in Beirut, where thousands have sought refuge from intense Israeli raids on Lebanon’s south, east and Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Lebanese “to come together” to preserve civil order.
“Our national responsibility at this historic and exceptional moment requires setting aside political differences,” he said on Saturday, after cutting short a New York visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert also called for unity in a statement on X on Sunday.
“At this critical moment for Lebanon when uncertainty is rife, now is the time for the country to focus on the common interest that unites its people,” she said. With AFP
