Philippines Asks 10,000 Workers to Leave Syria, del Rosario Says – By Joel Guinto

Article  •  Publié sur Souria Houria le 6 janvier 2012

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — The Philippines has asked its 10,000 workers to leave Syria as escalating conflict in the Middle Eastern state prompted President Benigno Aquino to order “mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a briefing in Manila today.

Manila will spend about $4,000 per worker to pay for transportation and immigration fines and to free them from unexpired employment contracts, del Rosario said.

Two hundred will be brought back to the Philippines in two weeks and up to 1,000 by the end of the month, said del Rosario, who was in Damascus last week. At least 20 percent of the total number of Filipinos there will be repatriated as others refuse to leave for fear of unemployment, he said.

source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-04/philippines-asks-10-000-workers-to-leave-syria-del-rosario-says.html