Mercy flight brings home 253 Filipinos from Kuwait
Published Mar 26, 2020 12:00 am
By Roy Mabasa
A total of 253 Filipinos composed of distressed domestic helpers and former detainees in Kuwait finally made it back to the Philippines via a humanitarian flight on Thursday amid the imposition of a lockdown due to the threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in that country.
DFA/ MANILA BULLETIN
Officials of the Philippine Embassy in the Gulf State thanked the Kuwaiti government for helping them arrange the humanitarian flight that arrived in Manila before 4 a.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2020.
Consul General to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina Lomondot said the Kuwaiti government, as well as its flag carrier the Kuwait Airways, heeded the call of Filipinos at Talha Deportation Center, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Expatriate Shelter, and the Embassy’s very own shelter to allow them to come home to the Philippines amid the ongoing lockdown of the country and the closure of Kuwait International Airport.
“The humanitarian flight of 253 OFWs in Kuwait is a testament to the enduring friendship between the Philippines and Kuwait. On behalf of the Philippine government and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), I thank the Kuwaiti government and Kuwait Airways for this generous gesture to our distressed kababayan,” l Lomondot said.
Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. and Vice Consul Charleson Hermosura lauded the efforts of Kuwait’s immigration, civil aviation, and manpower authorities to hasten all the procedures of repatriating the distressed Filipinos, as a way to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at Kuwait’s usually crowded detention facilities and shelter.
Hermosura explained that the humanitarian flight was initially arranged for March 21, 2020 but was rescheduled to March 25, 2020, which allowed the Embassy and the Philippine labor officials to maximize the capacity of Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777 aircraft and accommodate more distressed Filipinos in the flight.
Those repatriated were 179 distressed domestic workers; 39 former detainees at Talha Deportation Center, Sulaibiya Central Jail, and other detention facilities in Kuwait; 34 walk-in PAM clients who encountered various employment-related problems, and one infant.
Since the middle of March, the Kuwaiti government has taken drastic, yet proactive steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
According to the Embassy, the ongoing lockdown resulted in the closure of government offices, schools, and non-essential businesses in Kuwait, the suspension of commercial flights to and from the country’s main airport, and the imposition of an 11-hour daily curfew from 5:00 P.M. to 4:00 A.M the following day.
DFA/ MANILA BULLETIN
Officials of the Philippine Embassy in the Gulf State thanked the Kuwaiti government for helping them arrange the humanitarian flight that arrived in Manila before 4 a.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2020.
Consul General to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina Lomondot said the Kuwaiti government, as well as its flag carrier the Kuwait Airways, heeded the call of Filipinos at Talha Deportation Center, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Expatriate Shelter, and the Embassy’s very own shelter to allow them to come home to the Philippines amid the ongoing lockdown of the country and the closure of Kuwait International Airport.
“The humanitarian flight of 253 OFWs in Kuwait is a testament to the enduring friendship between the Philippines and Kuwait. On behalf of the Philippine government and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), I thank the Kuwaiti government and Kuwait Airways for this generous gesture to our distressed kababayan,” l Lomondot said.
Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. and Vice Consul Charleson Hermosura lauded the efforts of Kuwait’s immigration, civil aviation, and manpower authorities to hasten all the procedures of repatriating the distressed Filipinos, as a way to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at Kuwait’s usually crowded detention facilities and shelter.
Hermosura explained that the humanitarian flight was initially arranged for March 21, 2020 but was rescheduled to March 25, 2020, which allowed the Embassy and the Philippine labor officials to maximize the capacity of Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777 aircraft and accommodate more distressed Filipinos in the flight.
Those repatriated were 179 distressed domestic workers; 39 former detainees at Talha Deportation Center, Sulaibiya Central Jail, and other detention facilities in Kuwait; 34 walk-in PAM clients who encountered various employment-related problems, and one infant.
Since the middle of March, the Kuwaiti government has taken drastic, yet proactive steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
According to the Embassy, the ongoing lockdown resulted in the closure of government offices, schools, and non-essential businesses in Kuwait, the suspension of commercial flights to and from the country’s main airport, and the imposition of an 11-hour daily curfew from 5:00 P.M. to 4:00 A.M the following day.