Almost 300 Repatriates from Cayman Islands Arrived Today

PASAY CITY 25 May 2020 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed at noon today the arrival of 295 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and family members from the Cayman Islands and London on board an “airbridge” flight organized by the Cayman Islands local government.

The said batch of repatriates is composed of 287 repatriates from Grand Cayman and eight Filipinos stranded in London.

The Cayman Islands, which is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, mounted this “airbridge” flight to provide an opportunity for foreign contract workers to return to their home countries amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. This Manila “airbridge” flight was made possible with the strong partnership between the Office of the Governor of the Cayman Islands Government and the DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through the Philippine Embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Washington DC.

“The Manila airbridge flight is but a demonstration of the close Philippine-UK bilateral ties”, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola declared.

She added that the Philippine Government will continue to work closely with other governments and organizations to mount similar repatriation flights to bring home Filipinos who are in distress as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) One-Stop Shop at the Manila International Airports continues to ensure that the repatriated Filipinos will arrive safe and sound to their loved ones waiting at home.

Upon arrival at NAIA, the repatriates underwent thorough documentation and briefing on current safety protocols prescribed by the IATF-EID as well as RT-PCR COVID-19 testing. They will be temporarily housed at Bureau of Quarantine-approved facilities for their mandatory quarantine while they await the result of their RT-PCR test.

The safe and successful repatriation of OFWs via a "whole-of-government" approach continues to be facilitated by close coordination of the DFA and DOLE- Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration, with the Department of Health - Bureau of Quarantine, Department of Transportation - Manila International Airports Authority and Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Tourism, Philippine National Police, the Philippine Red Cross, and other members of the private sector. END

(Photos by DFA-OUMWA)