More Than 1.9k Filipinos Repatriated from UAE This June

PASAY CITY 29 June 2021 -- The Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA), has flown home around 1,920 overseas Filipinos from the United Arab Emirates for the month of June 2021.

Among those repatriated were the 347 distressed overseas Filipinos who will be leaving Dubai tomorrow, 30 June, via a DFA special chartered flight. This is the third chartered flight this month especially mounted by the Department for UAE-based Filipinos. All passengers of DFA repatriation flights are required to undergo RT-PCR test 48 hours before the flight.

“The Duterte government continues to help our kababayan who are stranded or distressed in the UAE. We have and we will continue mounting chartered flights until we have successfully repatriated those in need,” assured Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.

The DFA has previously mounted special flights for stranded Filipinos in the UAE. Last 2 June, a Cebu Pacific flight brought home 364 land-based OFWs, while a PAL flight brought home 322 mostly land-based overseas Filipinos on 17 June.

The DFA also expressed its appreciation for the efforts of local manning agencies in helping organize the repatriation of sea-based workers. Three flights arranged by these agencies arrived from the UAE this month, which brought home a total of 886 seafarers.

“We wish to assure our distressed kababayan in the UAE that we are not only firming up plans but executing these plans swiftly to bring them home at the soonest possible time, in accordance with the instructions of the President,” added Undersecretary Arriola.

A DFA-chartered flight with an estimated 350 passengers is expected to arrive on 17 July, while two more flights, arranged by a local manning agency and OWWA, are also expected on the 5th and 10th, respectively.

“We will have more flights in the coming days,” concluded the Undersecretary." END