More than 80 distressed and stranded overseas Filipinos in Myanmar and Cambodia were recently brought back to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday, Oct. 7.
Through a sweeper relief flight, 73 distressed overseas Filipinos—including one infant, two minors, and five senior citizens— came back home on Oct. 5.
The nationals either lost their jobs or had been stranded in Cambodia since the start of the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) pandemic.
Thirteen distressed Filipinos in Myanmar were also repatriated on the same day.
The agency said that the airfare from Yangon to Manila of nine Filipinos, who requested assistance, was paid through the Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Fund.
Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia has facilitated the repatriation of 1,110 distressed overseas Filipinos. This is the 14th repatriation program of the Embassy since 2020 and the fourth sweeper flight arranged for 2021.
For the Philippine Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar, this was its 23rd flight facilitated for distressed nationals since the start of the pandemic and the 11th for this year.