DFA confirms arrival of 31 more Filipinos from Kabul


Thirty one more Filipinos who were earlier evacuated from Kabul through Islamabad and Doha are now back in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Tuesday.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)

The 31 Filipinos returned home via a repatriation flight from the Qatari capital, according to the DFA report.

Out of the more than 200 Filipinos in Afghanistan prior to the start of evacuation, only 23 are still remaining, of which seven are requesting Philippine government repatriation.

The DFA also confirmed the evacuation of one Filipino from Afghanistan yesterday, and who is now currently in Islamabad awaiting his onward repatriation.

“The Department continues to closely monitor the situation and the status of remaining Filipinos in Afghanistan,” the foreign affairs office said.

Meanwhile, Manila-based migration consultant Emmanuel Geslani claimed that three out of four Filipinos working for a British security firm in Mazar El Sharif, a city located about 430 kilometers north of Kabul, reportedly refused to be evacuated out of Afghanistan.

Geslani said the four Filipinos had opted to continue working with Hart Security whose office is situated in a compound occupied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).