DFA Remains Steadfast in Its Repatriation Efforts, Brings Home 8,831 Overseas Filipinos This Week

PASAY CITY 16 November 2020 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) remains resolute in its repatriation efforts as it brought home another 8,831 overseas Filipinos (OFs) this week. This brings the total number of repatriated OFs to 254,785 since the DFA began its COVID-related repatriation efforts in February 2020.

More than 87% or 7,715 of this week’s repatriates arrived from the Middle East. 611 OFs meanwhile came home from Asia-Pacific, 503 from Europe and 2 from the Americas.

This week, the DFA chartered a Philippine Airlines flight to Guangzhou, China which brought home 86 distressed overseas Filipinos from various regions in China, including a medical stretcher case. Our Philippine Embassy in Beijing and our Consulates General in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Xiamen worked seamlessly to get the repatriates in their respective jurisdictions to Guangzhou, China where they boarded the chartered flight. With the valuable assistance of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, the repatriation flight landed safely last Wednesday, 11 November 2020, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Despite the pandemic, the DFA successfully assisted in the return of 151 Filipino deportees from Malaysia who landed in Zamboanga City this Thursday. Three OFs with chronic illness were also medically repatriated from UAE, Bahrain, and Oman. Finally, our various Foreign Service Posts helped in the return of overseas Filipinos from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Vietnam, and Japan.

Today, the DFA is scheduled to welcome two DFA-chartered flights from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Dili, Timor-Leste which will bring home around 370 distressed OFs from the two countries.

The DFA estimates that another 90,000 Filipinos will be repatriated before the end of the year. The DFA remains fully committed to safely bringing home our OFs from anywhere in the world amid the ongoing pandemic. END