DFA Facilitates New Arrivals of Filipinos from Iraq; Deploys Teams to Expedite Process

24 January 2020 - Four Filipinos from the northern province of Erbil, Iraq arrived in Manila this afternoon bringing the total number of Filipinos repatriated to 21.

Two of the current repatriates are trafficking in persons victims. Both were received by the Department of Foreign Affairs and subsequently endorsed to members of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) who were also at the airport for its appropriate investigation.

"The recent arrivals is part of the efforts of the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) that we deployed in Iraq," DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.

"Following the inter-agency meeting facilitated by Secretary Locsin, the DFA sent two RRTs in Iraq, one in Baghdad and another in Erbil, to expedite the process of repatriation of those who express their willingness to go home," Undersecretary Arriola added. The RRTs arrived in Baghdad and Erbil on 20 and 21 January 2020, respectively.

Since Alert Level 4 (Mandatory Repatriation) was raised in the entire country of Iraq on 8 January 2020, 13 arrived last 15 January. This was followed by two arrivals from Baghdad last 17 January, one from Erbil last 21 January, and another one from Basra yesterday.

"Our Embassy and RRTs are under strict instructions to provide repatriation assistance to every Filipino who wishes to go home," Undersecretary Arriola concluded. END