More than 400 distressed Filipinos in various countries, including war-torn Ukraine, recently returned to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
A total of 411 Filipinos arrived on separate occasions on March 24 to 25 from Thailand, Vietnam, Macau, and Ukraine.
Thirteen seafarers from Ukraine arrived in the country on March 24. They are the crew members of MV Filia Glory, which was anchored in Olvia Port at the south of Mykolaiv in Ukraine.
According to Philippine Ambassador to Budapest Frank Cimafranca, the evacuation of seafarers has become more challenging amid the heavy fighting around Mykolaiv.
"The evacuation of the seafarers was a big challenge because of the need for them to disembark the ship through small boats that would bring them safely to shore. We did this twice since the second batch of the crew was evacuated on a separate day,” Cimafranca said.
To date, 323 seafarers have been repatriated, while another 30 have been evacuated and awaiting repatriation in various safe borders near Ukraine.
Moreover, 203 nationals arrived in the country from Macau on March 25. The flight also brought home the remains of three Filipinos who died in Macau due to non-Covid-19 related causes.
The DFA said the Philippine Consulate General will continue organizing repatriation flights until the Macau Government has declared it safe to allow international commercial flights to operate again.
A total of 53 overseas Filipinos from Thailand and 142 repatriates from Vietnam also arrived on March 24.
It was disclosed that the overseas Filipinos were mostly working in Thailand’s education and tourism industry but lost employment due to the pandemic. The repatriates included infants, children, and those with medical conditions.