PH Gov’t repatriates another batch of distressed Filipinos from Saudi Arabia
Filipino repatriates checking-in for their flight at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. (Jeddah PCG photo)
JEDDAH, 23 December 2021–– The Philippine government, through the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, repatriated 179 distressed Filipinos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 23 December 2021 via a Philippine Airlines (PAL) chartered flight.
Of the total passengers, four are minors, including one infant, two are pregnant women, one medical case, and the rest are distressed Filipinos in Saudi Arabia. Many of the repatriates have been economically displaced as an aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PAL-chartered flight departed from Jeddah, KSA and went to Dubai, UAE to pick up distressed Filipinos from Europe, particularly those in European countries classified as COVID-19 “red” and “yellow” zones. From Dubai, the chartered flight landed in the Philippines on 24 December at 12:55 P.M.
Consul General Edgar Tomas Auxilian assured the repatriates that the Philippine government is doing its best to safely bring back home distressed overseas Filipinos who have lost their jobs in their host countries, or those who no longer have the means to return to the Philippines for good.
In Jeddah alone, the Philippine government has mounted two repatriation flights this month, the other one held on December 20. Since 2020 when the pandemic struck the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, some 4,000 distressed Filipinos in Jeddah and the Western Region of Saudi Arabia have been successfully brought home to the Philippines through chartered repatriation flights. END
Filipino repatriates boarding the service buses provided by Jeddah PCG as they head their way to the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. (Jeddah PCG photo)
Consul General Edgar Tomas Auxilian (standing, 2nd from left) briefs the repatriates before their flight. All the repatriates were ferried from the Consulate to the King Abdulaziz International Airport by buses rented by Jeddah PCG and Riyadh PE. With him are other Jeddah PCG officers (standing, from left to right) Vice-Consul Lemuel C. Lopez, Vice-Consul Kristal Mary Padon-Rabanal, and Vice-Consul Alfred Kristoffer A. Guiang. (Jeddah PCG photo)
For more information, visit https://www.jeddahpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinJeddah/.