More than 300 Filipinos in Ukraine are now out of danger, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday, March 11.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola disclosed that a total of 309 Filipinos were already taken out of Ukraine as of Friday.
Of this, 150 nationals have returned home while 159 have been evacuated to various safe borders near the war-stricken country. Twenty-three of them are expected to arrive in the Philippines Friday.
Ukraine Repatriation Update (as of March 11, 2022, 4:00 pm): @teddyboylocsin @DFAPHL pic.twitter.com/brDAUmF8xT
— Sarah Lou Ysmael Arriola (@slyarriola) March 11, 2022
On late Thursday night, March 10, a group of seafarers arrived in the country. They are crewmembers of MV Key Knight, MV Star Helena, and MV Pavlina.
According to Arriola, they were taken out of Ukraine with the help of the Honorary Consulate in Moldova and the Philippine Embassy Budapest in Bucharest, Romania.
"The Department expects more seafarers to arrive in the country in the next few days through its evacuation and repatriation programs," the DFA said.
On Monday, the DFA raised alert level 4 for Filipino nationals in all areas in Ukraine due to the "rapidly deteriorating security situation" in the war-stricken country.
It means that Filipinos in the foreign land are urged to return home at the government expense.
Since then, the number of Filipinos leaving Ukraine has reached hundreds.