DFA Welcomes Home 668 Filipinos from Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea

PASAY CITY 29 April 2020 — On a busy Wednesday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) warmly received 341 Filipino repatriates from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who arrived on a Philippine Airlines chartered flight, arranged by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Meanwhile, a total of 312 OFWs working on a railway project in Africa arrived in Manila this morning. Their Qatar Airlines chartered flight from Ethiopia was shouldered by their employer, Yapi Merkezi Construction and Industry Inc. and facilitated by the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.

DFA also welcomed 15 OFWs from Papua New Guinea. The Philippine Embassy in Port Moresby arranged their repatriation.

Upon disembarkation, all Filipino repatriates underwent health assessment by the Department of Health (DOH) - Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ). After processing at the government's One Stop Shop at the airport, they shall then be transported to their respective government-approved quarantine facilities for 14 days.

Through the continuous cooperation of our partner agencies, DOH-BOQ, BIHC, OWWA, DOLE, DOTr, PCG, MIAA, with the assistance of our Embassies and Consulates General, as well as the active involvement of the private sector, this repatriation truly demonstrates the whole-of-nation approach. END

(DFA-OUMWA photos)