(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has repatriated over 300,000 overseas Filipinos since February, the start of its repatriation efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DFA said the 300,838 total Filipinos abroad repatriated was after 13,537 were brought home this week.
The department said this was the highest weekly total since February.
Of the 300,838 repatriated, 90,621 or 30.12 percent were sea-based workers while 210,217 or 69.88 percent were land-based.
The DFA said of the 59 flights facilitated this week, a Philippine Airlines flight brought home 319 Filipinos from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the fifth DFA-chartered flight from the eastern region of the Kingdom.
The department, through its embassy in Port Moresby, also assisted in the return of overseas Filipinos from Solomon Islands.
A collaboration between the embassy in Amman and the International Organization for Migration also led to the repatriation of 18 Filipinos from Jordan.
This week, the DFA, said it assisted in bringing home:
11 stranded Filipinos from Malaysia
9 undocumented OFWs from China;
8 medical repatriates from France, Japan, Austria, Oman, UAE, USA;
3 undocumented OFWs and possible victims of trafficking-in-persons from Qatar, Egypt, and Syria;
2 seafarers from the Bahamas; and
1 distressed Filipino student from Australia.
“As the holidays approach, the DFA continues to work doubly hard to ensure that Filipinos who continue to be stranded abroad are given the chance to return home,” the DFA said.