More than 50,000 overseas Filipinos were brought back to the Philippines in July, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday night.
A total of 50,887 overseas Filipinos arrived in the country this July, bringing the total number of repatriated Filipinos to 115,793 since the first COVID-related repatriation flight arrived from Wuhan in February 2020.
The number of repatriated Filipinos, according to the Foreign Affairs department, surpassed the government's goal to bring home around 50,000 nationals.
Of the 50,887 overseas Filipinos brought home, 35,656 were from the Middle East – with the biggest number of repatriates arriving from the UAE (14,948), Saudi Arabia (11,249), and Qatar (4,664).
A total of 6,925 overseas Filipinos came from Asia, 4,943 from the Americas, 3,343 from Europe, and 20 from Africa.
The DFA also organized 13 chartered flights this July which brought home 4,147 Filipinos from Japan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Malaysia and Vietnam. The cost of the chartered flights was shouldered by the DFA through its Assistance-to-Nationals Fund.
“More than any other time in Philippine history, we have embarked on a repatriation program of unprecedented scale in order to bring home our overseas Filipinos affected by the pandemic. Our duty is far from over as we sustain our efforts to fly home another hundred thousand fellow Filipinos who wish to be repatriated,” said Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola.
Meanwhile, it was disclosed that the department is planning to repatriate an estimated 100,000 Filipinos abroad within the next two months.
“We continue to stand by our promise to bring home every Filipino who wants to come home,” Arriola added.