MANILA, Philippines – No Filipinos were killed or injured in the latest and deadliest crackdown on protests by Syrian security forces in the troubled Middle East country, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“No Filipino has been reported to have been affected by the recent violence in Syria,”  DFA spokesperson  Raul Hernandez told the INQUIRER.

Hernandez also disclosed that “the next repatriation (of overseas Filipino workers) from Syria will be effected soon.”

“Flight details will be announced (this week),” he added.

So far, a total of 771 of some 10,000 OFWs in Syria have been repatriated by the government with some help from the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration.

On Saturday, Reuters reported that more than 200 people were killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the Syrian city of Homs as the United Nations Security Council prepared to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab League call for President Bashar al-Assad to give up power.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad’s crackdown on protests during the past 11 months, inspired by uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders.

Some activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents whom the Syrian leader has vowed to crush.

More than 5,000 people have died in the uprising, according to the UN.
Last month, the DFA raised the crisis alert level in Syria from 3 to 4 in view of the escalating violence in that country.

Under level 4, mandatory or forced evacuation of OFWs at government expense will be implemented.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called the repatriation of Filipinos in Syria a “continuing effort of the government since April 2010.”

Del Rosario, who flew to Damascus late last month to personally oversee the operations to evacuate OFWs there, had instructed the Philippine embassy in the Syrian capital to intensify its efforts “for the full implementation of crisis alert level 4.”

Majority of Philippine nationals in Syria, however, have ignored the government offer, prompting the DFA to intensify its efforts to reach out to them and convince them to leave the country.

The reason given, the DFA chief said, was that there were no economic opportunities in the Philippines, the same one given by the thousands of OFWs in Libya who opted to remain in the north African nation during the eight-month long uprising against the late Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi last year.

Del Rosario explained “notwithstanding the fact that there’s possible harm that may come to them, they choose to stay in Syria because of the economic opportunities offered there.”

“They don’t particularly feel threatened. None of them were anxious to be repatriated…I think the people who opted to stay are happy where they are. The people who are coming home are generally unhappy with their employers,” he said.

Earlier, the labor department-attached Philippine Overseas Employment Administration banned the deployment of OFWs to Syria.

Del Rosario also said the DFA remained “fully committed to ensure the safety and welfare of our OFWs in Syria,” adding they had fielded more people from Philippine embassies in nearby countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to help in the processing and repatriation of OFWs in Syria.

On Jan. 26, the latest batch of Filipino repatriates from Damascus – composed of 74 women and two men – arrived in Manila on board three separate flights from the Middle East