DFA welcomes arrival of 9 Filipinos from Russia, sets charter flight to Europe to bring more in time for Christmas

14 December 2021 – The Department of Foreign Affairs - Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs is set to welcome the arrival of nine distressed Filipinos from Russia today at NAIA Terminal 3. 

The repatriates are arriving via a flight from Amsterdam. The group met with economic difficulties following the pandemic's negative impact on their livelihood and legal status in Russia. 

“We are relieved that our timely repatriation assistance has given them the chance to fly back to the Philippines,” said Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola.

The Department will also mount a chartered flight scheduled on 23 December to bring home more Filipinos from Europe just in time for Christmas.

“The chartered flight is primarily to aid our distressed Filipino kababayan in European countries which are under the red list. We will also extend the flight to distressed stranded Filipino passengers bound for the Philippines as a result of policies put in place to curb the effect of Covid-19 Omicron variant,” stated Undersecretary Arriola.

“We encourage our distressed kababayan in Europe to contact our embassies the soonest in order for them to join in this repatriation flight,” concluded the Undersecretary. END