Hundreds of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon are hesitant to leave that country despite growing tension between Israel and Hezbollah, for fear that they would not receive financial assistance from the government should they return to the Philippines, according to migrant expert Emmanuel Geslani.
“There are 5,000-6,000 Filipina domestic workers who are stranded in Lebanon who 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 that there are 11,000 documented OFWs in Lebanon, and more than 3,000 were 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 HSWs workers in Lebanon did not register with the embassy and failed to pay the US$25 OWWA fee,” Geslani added.
However, the Overseas Workers Welfare administration clarified that even those who have not paid the $25 OWWA contribution are still eligible for financial assistance and other support services from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), OWWA, and other government agencies.
Geslani strongly urged the Philippine Embassy in Beirut to step up their effort to lure OFWs, whether undocumented or not, to voluntary repatriate and erase the doubts that they would not be excluded from government assistance once they returned home.
Israel and Hezbollah are now on the brink of war as both sides continue to exchange attacks when Hezbollah sent over a hundred rockets into the Northern region of Israel while Israeli fighter jets targeted 1000 rocket launchers of Hezbollah.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Hundreds of undocumented OFWs hesitant to leave Lebanon, says migrant expert.”
