Trafficking victims from Syria set to arrive in PH

MANILA – Six Filipina trafficking victims from Syria, the first batch of those awaiting repatriation at the Philippine Embassy in Damascus, are set to arrive in Manila on Saturday.

The six left Syria on Feb. 4 and are scheduled to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the afternoon after a layover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

All repatriates are victims of human trafficking and were illegally hired to work in Syria from being tourists in Dubai, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

They are among the 38 Filipinas currently housed at the Embassy shelter and are all undocumented workers in Syria who ran away from their employers due to harsh working conditions.

The DFA coordinated with the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT) led by the Department of Justice to assist the repatriates in the filing of criminal complaints against human traffickers who victimized them in their home provinces, in Dubai, and Syria.

READ: Locsin vows to repatriate distressed Pinoys in Syria

The victims have prepared their complaint-affidavits at the shelter in Damascus with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy.

In a statement, the DFA said it lobbied hard with the Syrian authorities and employers to secure exit clearances for the repatriates.

“DFA is using its Assistance to National Fund and the Legal Assistance Fund to continuously assist the remaining wards with their ongoing court cases including making representations with Syrian immigration for the grant of exit visas for their eventual repatriation to the Philippines,” it said.

The agency’s augmentation team is also departing Manila next week.

This augmentation team would render humanitarian assistance and facilitate the repatriation of all the remaining distressed Filipino wards at the Embassy shelter and any other distressed Filipinos in Syria.

The repatriation and change of Embassy staff came following a Jan. 25 Washington Post report titled “Sold into Syrian servitude, Filipina workers tell of abuse, rape, and imprisonment,” which detailed the experiences of some Filipinos who were promised a job in the United Arab Emirates but were trafficked to Syria to work as domestic helpers.

The article also reported the alleged maltreatment of these victims under the hands of some personnel at the Embassy.