THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is mounting four more chartered flights to facilitate the immediate repatriation of distressed overseas Filipinos based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The DFA is particularly looking at the situation in the UAE. We are mounting four chartered flights this July just as we mounted three UAE repatriation flights last June,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Atty. Sarah Lou Y. Arriola.
The Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) tasked its Middle East Desk and its special repatriation unit to continue the big push in the UAE.
The DFA’s latest repatriation flight on Thursday, July 1, brought home 348 distressed Filipinos from Dubai. All passengers tested negative in the RT-PCR conducted 48 hours before the flight.
“The DFA chartered flights from the UAE are already scheduled. The flights are to leave UAE on 12, 17, 26 and 30 July.
The July 12 flight is especially for those distressed in the Abu Dhabi region while the rest of the flights are for our distressed kababayan in the Dubai area,” added Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Enrico T. Fos.
All repatriates will undergo 14 days’ stringent facility-based quarantine upon arrival in Manila, in conformity with health protocols. “The DFA upholds its sworn duty to help every Filipino in distress anywhere in the world.
The men and women of the Department, through its consulates and embassies abroad, will exhaust all efforts and go the distance in order to bring our kababayan safely home,” Arriola said.
Image courtesy of DFA