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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Over 1,000 stranded OFWs from Qatar back home soon

Over 1,000 stranded OFWs from Qatar back home soon

Published Aug 11, 2020 03:04 pm

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is flying home 1,062 distressed overseas Filipino workers from Qatar.

MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO

The Labor department said the OFWs will be flown home in three batches starting Wednesday, August 12.

"The first batch of 354 repatriates will be home tomorrow (Wednesday). And we are thankful to the government of Qatar for allowing the chartered flights to bring home our dear modern day heroes,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement Tuesday.

He said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Doha has arranged three chartered flights for the more than 1,000 OFWs consisting of wards at the halfway house in the capital, and stranded and displaced workers due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Two other flights, also carrying 354 OFWs each, are arriving a week apart on August 19 and 26. 

According to DoLE, all three chartered flights of the Philippine Airlines were arranged and funded by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Based on records of POLO-Qatar, DOLE has already assisted in the repatriation of 2,327 OFWs since the onset of the global pandemic this year.

Last June, the labor department brought home 277 distressed overseas Filipino workers from North Africa.

The repatriates, including OFW dependents from Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, were flown in via a special flight of PAL.

The repatriated OFWs were employed in the oil industry and medical establishments. Some with finished contracts but most were displaced due to the temporary shutdown of companies following  the COVID-19 pandemic.

DOLE had mounted similar repatriation missions from the Middle East for stranded and distressed OFWs through the POLOs utilizing the assistance and repatriation funds of OWWA. 

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