A nonprofit organisation that handles labour
and migration concerns yesterday urged Philippine government agencies involved
in the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Syria to make full
use of social media networks to rescue OFWs trapped in the war-torn country.
According
to Susan Ople, head of the Blas Ople Policy Centre, social network sites and
broadcast stations should be fully utilised to relay information to OFWs still
in Syria through their families back here at home.
"Unlike
in Libya, our workers scattered across Syria do not know where the rescue teams
are and which community leaders or teams they could reach out to. In quiet
desperation, some of our workers have started planning their own escape routes
which sadly puts them in extreme danger,” Ople said in a statement.
She
cited the case of OFWs Maricel Monteclaro and Sherly Antig who reportedly
jumped off an apartment building in order to escape from their strict employers
in Lattakia.
Both
OFWs have been calling up the Philippine Embassy and asking for repatriation
assistance because of oppressive work conditions and fear for their lives after
hearing sporadic sounds of gunfire near their building.
The
Ople Centre said that it had received several other cases of OFWs seeking
repatriation from Syria.
“The
families of these OFWs are extremely worried and would often call us up for
updates. All we could tell them is that the cases of their loved ones are still
under negotiation based on information coming from the Department of Foreign
Affairs. For how much and for how long, we have absolutely no idea. Then we ask
them to keep praying and not lose hope. I really wish we could do more than
that,” Ople said.
Earlier,
the Ople Center called for a congressional inquiry into the rescue operations
in Syria in light of the death of a
Filipino in battle-stricken Homs.
The DFA
on Wednesday confirmed that Meran Prieia Montezor, 23, of Camarines Sur, was
killed in an ambush by “armed gangs” on February 24 in Homs while riding in a
vehicle with her employer’s family.
On
February 22, an OFW who was waiting for her flight back to the Philippines died
of renal failure.
Ople
said the death of the OFWs underscores the urgency to provide priority
attention to the fast-developing humanitarian crisis in Syria.
"We
respect and believe in the sincerity of our embassy and DFA personnel who are
in the front lines in Syria. It is also for their benefit that the Ople Centre
now seeks an impartial and independent assessment of the government’s ongoing
rescue and repatriation efforts through a congressional inquiry,” Ople said.
A
legislative inquiry will help ascertain whether all actions are fully
coordinated, and that the best teams and all necessary resources are in place
in Syria.
Tina G.
Santos
Philippine
Daily Inquirer
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