A consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw, Poland has been sent to Lviv, Ukraine to ensure the safety exit of Filipinos from the foreign land amid rising tensions, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bared.
A two-man team from the embassy was sent to Ukraine on Feb. 17 to "enable faster coordination with the Filipino community and relevant authorities in the country," the DFA said in a statement late Monday, Feb. 21.
It added that the move is also to guarantee immediate assistance to Filipino nationals.
The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw exercises jurisdiction over Ukraine. Lviv is a city located in the western part of Ukraine, close to the Polish border.
"The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw keeps close coordination with the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs and the Philippine Honorary Consulate General in Kyiv in arranging the repatriation of Filipinos who have chosen to avail of the Philippine government’s voluntary repatriation program from Ukraine," the DFA said.
According to the agency, the team in coordination with the Philippine Honorary Consulate General in Kyiv, was immediately established an emergency contact base upon arriving in Lviv.
They were also directed to monitor the situation in Ukraine as well as connect with the Filipinos in the country who have registered with the Embassy.
On the first day of the mission, two Filipinos were sent to from Lviv to Manila. The team also met with two groups of Filipino nationals who temporarily relocated to the Lviv area from Kyiv as precautionary measure.
Another group of Filipino nationals temporarily relocated to the Ivano-Frankivsk area from Kyiv was also met by the Embassy team.