Hundreds of Filipinos, most of them female domestic workers, flocked to their embassy in Lebanon on Thursday (Dec 5) to sign up for free repatriation from the crisis-hit country.
The embassy issued a statement linking its offer of a free ticket home to Lebanon's free-falling economy.
"More than 1,000 Filipinos, mostly women with some children in tow, arrived in droves to the Philippine embassy in Beirut to register for free mass repatriation scheduled in February next year," a statement said.
An estimated quarter of a million domestic workers live in Lebanon, in conditions that have repeatedly been condemned by their countries of origin and rights group.
A sponsorship system known as "kafala" leaves maids, nannies and carers outside the remit of Lebanon's labour law, and at the mercy of their employers.
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