DFA Brings Home 109 More Undocumented Filipinos From Dubai

(DFA Office of Public Diplomacy photo)

19 September 2018 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed today 109 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Dubai who availed themselves of the amnesty program of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This brings to 838 the total number of OFWs who were repatriated by the DFA since the amnesty program began in August.

"Your presence here today demonstrates the kind of care and compassion President Duterte has for our overseas workers," Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola said 87 women and 22 men make up the seventh batch of Filipino amnesty grantees from the UAE.

Undersecretary Arriola reported that the DFA, through the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, shouldered the exit fines and other penalties, and airline tickets to Manila and to the respective provinces of the repatriates.

She said the DFA also provided financial assistance of P5,000.00 to each of the repatriates as part of the government’s “all-out support” for the returning OFWs.

Undersecretary Arriola reminded all Filipinos seeking employment opportunities abroad to make sure that they go through the proper application process and follow the rules and regulations of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes said the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi will assist undocumented Filipinos who wish to return to the Philippines under this program.

Consul General Cortes encouraged qualified Filipinos to take advantage of the UAE’s amnesty program before the 31 October 2018 deadline, to give the Embassy and the Consulate General ample time to process the necessary documents. END