DFA Eyes More Flights for UAE, as Third Flight this Month Brings Home 350 OFWs

(DFA photo by TMaranan)

PASAY CITY 30 July 2021 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomes an additional 350 Filipinos from Dubai, UAE, who had been stranded in the country after having been adversely affected by the pandemic. This marks the third DFA special chartered flight this July from the GCC country. A fourth flight is scheduled on 30 July, and is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines on Saturday, 31 July.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the DFA has chartered several flights to bring home a total of 3,350 Filipinos from the UAE.

“We are mounting more flights in the coming weeks to bring home as many distressed Filipinos from the UAE as soon as possible,” stated Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs  Sarah Lou Y. Arriola.

The announcement follows Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s promise, with regard to distressed overseas Filipinos, for the DFA to make use of its resources to “bring them all home.”

In line with the instructions of President Duterte and as recommended by Secretary Locsin, all repatriates received USD200 as reintegration assistance.

The 350 repatriates underwent the appropriate medical protocols upon arrival, as required by the Department of Health (DOH) and underwent quarantine procedures in accordance with the guidelines established by the Interagency Task Force (IATF). END