DFA hits 90K-mark in repatriated Pinoys since outbreak

FILE: A total of 444 Filipinos — 438 crew members and six passengers — of the MV Grand Princess docked in the Port of Oakland in California board a chartered plane to Manila on March 14, 2020 (US Pacific Time). All repatriates were transported on chartered buses to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City for the 14-day quarantine period. (Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) facilitated the return of 11,688 overseas Filipinos (OFs) this week.

This brings the total number of repatriated OFs to 90,497 since the DFA began its coronavirus disease (Covid-19) repatriation in February 2020.

Of this number, 44.8 percent (40,540 OFs) are sea-based and 55.2 percent (49,957 OFs) are land-based, with the most recent repatriates arriving from the Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the USA on Friday.

This week, the DFA facilitated a total of 31 flights from the region: 13 from the UAE, nine from Saudi Arabia, three from Qatar, two from Bahrain, two from Kuwait, one from Lebanon, and one from Oman, which repatriated over 8,500 OFs.

Two of these flights (Saudi Arabia and Lebanon) were chartered by the DFA using its Assistance-to-Nationals Fund.

The flight from Lebanon was the largest single mass repatriation flight for land-based workers in Philippine history.

Sea-based OFs from all over the world also continue to come home as the DFA welcomed repatriated seafarers from Canada, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Pakistan, Singapore, and the USA.

The DFA also welcomed this week overseas Filipino repatriates from Shanghai, China; Kathmandu, Nepal; Zanzibar, Tanzania; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (PR)