(Eagle News)–Over 37,000 overseas Filipinos were repatriated by the government in October.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said with the 37,095, the number of Filipinos abroad repatriated amid the COVID-19 pandemic now stands at 237,363.
The DFA said of the total, 77,326 or 32.58 percent were sea-based while 160,037 or 67.42 percent were land-based.
The repatriates this October came from the following regions:
31,849 or 85.86% from the Middle East;
2,716 or 7.32% from Asia and the Pacific;
2,406 or 6.49% from Europe;
92 or 0.25% from Africa; and
32 or 0.09% from the Americas.
The DFA said among those repatriated were more than 500 Agrostudies students from Israel, and 92 OFWs from Benghazi, Libya.
The first-ever repatriation by sea from Indonesia also took place in October, with the return to the Philippines of 40 Filipino fishermen via the BRP Tubbataha.
The DFA also chartered three flights from Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia which flew home 920 overseas Filipinos, including OFWs with chronic medical conditions.
The DFA said it also facilitated several medical repatriations from Australia, Brazil, French Polynesia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Oman, Spain, and the USA.
“As we sustain our repatriation efforts in the last two months of the year, the DFA remains fully committed to bringing home our kababayan, whatever challenges we may face,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola said.
The department said it expects to repatriate more than 107,000 Filipinos by the end of the year.
