(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has repatriated over 200 overseas Filipinos from Bahrain, Lebanon and Syria in time for the new year.
In a statement, the DFA said of the 285 repatriated on December 29, 29 were from Bahrain, 253 from Beirut, and three from Syria.
The department said the Filipinos arrived via a chartered flight.
The repatriation was made possible under the assisted repatriation program of the Philippine embassies in Manama, Beirut and Damascus, in coordination with the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs.
With the recent repatriation, the DFA said the number of Filipinos repatriated since the start of repatriation efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic in February rose to 323,436.
So far, the department said this was done via 59 chartered flights and more than 1,200 commercial flights.