GOVPH

74 Filipinos from Egypt Return Home to the Philippines

Filipino repatriates with Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Sulpicio M. Confiado (center). (Cairo PE photo)

CAIRO 17 August 2020 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Philippine Embassy in Cairo repatriated a total of 74 overseas Filipinos (OFs) on 15 August 2020 via Turkish Airlines flights TK0695 (Cairo to Istanbul) and TK0084 (Istanbul to Manila). The flight departed Cairo at around 8:55 P.M. and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) the following day, 16 August 2020, at around 07:10 P.M. (Manila time).

Passengers on the said flight included students of Al-Azhar University and their dependents, and professionals such as marine electricians, nurses, household service workers, hotel chefs and staff, whose contracts have ended since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020.

Before the flight, the repatriates were briefed on health and safety precautions, including an early registration for electronic Case Investigation Form (e-CIF) with the Philippine Red Cross for COVID-19 RT-PCR Testing, and arrangements of their quarantine facilities.

In preparing for this repatriation, the Philippine Embassy in Cairo worked closely with Turkish Airlines – Egypt, the Egyptian Passport and Immigration Administration, and the Cairo International Airport Authority.

This is the second batch of repatriation that the Philippine Embassy in Cairo facilitated, after the repatriation of 312 Filipino workers in Ethiopia in April 2020.

The Embassy will continue to extend repatriation assistance to distressed and vulnerable Overseas Filipinos in Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, through the DFA’s repatriation assistance program in response to the pandemic. END

Cairo Repat 2