THREE Filipina flight attendants of Saudia were the first Filipino workers to be evacuated from strife-torn Sudan, the Department of Foreign
Affairs said (DFA).
This came as the Philippine Embassy in Cairo has dispatched a bus going to the border with Sudan to fetch Filipinos fleeing from the civil war in the African state.
The three Filipina flight attendants witnessed first hand the start of the conflict in Sudan when their Saudia (formerly known as Saudi Arabia Airlines) aircraft came under fire at the Khartoum International Airport last April 15.
“Luckily, they were all taken out of the aircraft before the aircraft was attacked,” Consul General to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Edgar Thomas Auxilian told the BusinessMirror.
The Filipinas stayed at the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum for four days. “They witnessed the constant bombings in Khartoum,” the consul general said.
Then on April 20, the Saudi Embassy facilitated their evacuation together with 154 Saudi nationals and other foreigners. They traveled by land from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan for two days despite the dangers of constant bombardment between the two factions of the Sudanese military.
Normally, it would take 15 hours to travel from Khartoum to the port. However, they were forced to stop overnight to look for gas supplies. After finding a gas refill from the black market, they were able to move straight to the Port of Sudan.
From the port, the 157 evacuees, including the three Filipinas, boarded four Saudi naval boats and exited through the Red Sea. Aside from Saudis and Filipinos, the other stranded foreigners who were also evacuated were from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Canada and Burkina Faso.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Philippine Consulate about the three Filipino nationals who were among the extracted foreigners from Sudan.
The deputy consul general met the three Filipina stewardesses upon their arrival on April 23 at the Jeddah naval facility.
“They were visibly shaken, but they are in good health,” Auxilian said. “They were thankful.”
The consul general said the Philippine government is also looking at the possibility of evacuating other Filipino nationals by sea. But it is a longer and more dangerous route.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega said the number of Filipinos in Sudan have suddenly ballooned.
From 250, there are now 696 Filipinos who registered at the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, which has the consular jurisdiction over Sudan.
Of these, around 300 have expressed their willingness to be evacuated.
However, not all of the 300 wanted to go back to the Philippines, and only wanted to be temporarily extracted from Sudan.
He said a bus was supposed to leave Cairo to go to the border with Sudan Monday. The evacuation plan entails waiting for Filipinos from Sudan at the border and then will be moved to another city in Egypt.
From there, they will be flown to Cairo.