MANILA, Philippines — The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has assessed the needs of the 35 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who returned from Syria to determine how they can benefit from the government’s Reintegration Program.

OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said the arrival of the OFWs was reported to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz which in turn ordered the OWWA to immediately conduct an assessment of the OFWs.

The Aquino administration has allotted P2 billion to the reintegration program which focuses on providing returning OFWs with entrepreneurship training.

Dimzon said the repatriates will be oriented on the reintegration options, including business entrepreneurship and starter kits under the livelihood assistance program to start their own microbusinesses.

She said the 35 OFWs who arrived Wednesday were among the 5,000 who registered at the Philippine Embassy in Damascus for repatriation.

The OWWA chief said that since the alert status in Syria was raised to level 4 by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), more OFWs were reporting at the embassy in Damascus and asking to be flown home.

Dimzon said the government’s composite team of DFA, DOLE and OWWA arranged the repatriation by continuous negotiations with the foreign employers to release their workers from their contracts.

She said that exit clearances and other documentary requirements were issued to the Filipino migrant workers after their employers agreed to send the workers home.

The OWWA is expecting more workers to arrive from Syria within the next days as the government redoubles its efforts to persuade Filipinos to leave the war-torn country.

Dimzon said the OWWA Repatriation Team were at the NAIA to extend airport assistance and other assistances to these workers such as facilitation of immigration and customs formalities.

She said the arrivals will temporarily stay at the OWWA Halfway Home while the agency arranges the trip to their provinces. The OWWA Counseling Team will also conduct stress debriefing for the OFWs.

According to the DFA, there are about 17,000 Filipino migrant workers in Syria, most of whom are undocumented.

To date, OWWA has assisted a total of 741 OFWs since the start of the political strife in Syria.