138 Stranded Overseas Filipinos from Bahrain Come Home

MANAMA 31 August 2021 – A total of 138 stranded Overseas Filipinos (OFs) from Bahrain arrived in the Philippines on 26 August 2021 through the Repatriation Program of the Philippine Embassy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.The repatriates included overstaying OFs, infants and children, pardoned detainees, medical patients, pregnant women, and wards at the Embassy Shelter.

Many of the passengers have been stranded in Bahrain for weeks, or even months due to limitations in flights and seats from Bahrain to the Philippines. The exorbitant cost of airfare also prevented many of the passengers from booking earlier flights to the Philippines.

The Embassy made arrangements to ferry the stranded OFs via Gulf Air’s direct commercial flight. The Embassy, using the Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, shouldered the airfare of most of the passengers availing of a negotiated rate with Gulf Air to allow more Filipino nationals to benefit from the repatriation program.

The Embassy coordinated with the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and other government agencies for the exemption of the repatriates from the arrival limitations, as well as for the facilitation of quarantine facilities for the repatriates. END

For more information, visit https://www.manamape.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinBahrain.