Hundreds of migrant Filipino workers will begin flocking to their homeland tomorrow, Saturday until Sunday, August 17 in chartered transportation modes to flee Libya due to the existing tension and violence happening in the country.
The Philippine government leased a ship amounting to €1.4 million or about $1.8 million for the exodus as exit routes of Libya were closed. This would bring the Filipino workers from Libya to Malta. From the European country, two chartered flights via Philippine Airlines would be waiting to fly them back to the Philippines.
Around 1,500 migrant Filipino workers were documented to have left Libya since the civil unrest commenced in the region. The figure is a very small fraction compared to the 13,000 Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs, as they are called, in the country.
Around 1,100 OFWS enlisted in the Philippine embassy in Tripoli for repatriation were expected to avail of the chartered flights. The number dwindled to 829 as of Friday morning. According to Charlie Jose, spokesperson of the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs, "[t]he numbers went down because over a hundred employees who registered for mass repatriation were sent home at their company's expense." Others who preferred to remain in their jobs and risk their lives decided not to leave due to lack of livelihood opportunities in their country. Even then, Philippine government remains firm in calling for mandatory repatriation of all OFWs.
Prior to the mass evacuation, the OFWs returned to their country voluntarily and in trickles. Shortly after the abduction and beheading of one Filipino construction worker and the gang rape of a Filipina nurse, Philippine government officials decided to impose mandatory repatriation of its nationals.
The Philippines is one of the top labor-exporting countries in the world. Around 10 million migrant OFWs are spread out in all parts of the globe.
