Lebanon Evacuation

MANILA, Philippines -- Almost 150 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including runaways and those jailed for minor offenses, will be repatriated from Lebanon after the Philippine reached an amnesty agreement of sorts with the Middle East country.

At a press conference, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos said some 110 are runaways staying in various halfway homes in Lebanon, 21 are detained for various offenses, and another 15 detained by the Lebanese immigration bureau.

“We will charter one aircraft. This literally empties the jails and detention centers in Lebanon of distressed Filipinos,” he said.

Conejos said Lebanese immigration officers will accompany the OFWs to Manila.

Last year, at the height of the conflict between the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israeli forces, some 6,000 OFWs, mostly household workers, were evacuated and repatriated.