MANILA, Philippines -- Twenty-one overseas Filipino workers repatriated from Libya arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday.

The workers were among the 35 who ran away from their jobs in the Libyan capital Tripoli after their employers allegedly failed to comply with the terms of their contracts and made them work in poor conditions.

They arrived on board Qatar Airways Flight QR-646 at around 1:30 p.m.

The repatriation was facilitated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which shouldered the plane fares of the OFWs, subject to the reimbursement by their recruitment agency Aquagem International Manpower.

OWWA also provided temporary accommodation at the OWWA halfway house in Pasay City as well as travel fares for the OFWs bound for the provinces.

The 35 OFWs who sought refuge at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Libya said their employer made them sign new contracts upon their arrival. Worse, their employer deployed them to the port of Benghazi, which was quite far from Tripoli.

At their new work site, they were not given their promised salary and they experienced poor working conditions such as lack of food and water, and violations to their privacy.

The POLO head, labor attaché Nasser Mustafa, conducted a series of dialogues with the 35 as well as the more than 100 of their fellow Filipino workers who had also complained of similar problems.

Many workers were eventually absorbed by other companies but the 35 decided to return to the Philippines.