The first batch of Filipinos who fled from Sudan arrived in Manila on Saturday after their escape from the deadly clashes of military and paramilitary forces there.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo welcomed a total of 17 evacuees who initially sought refuge in Athens, Greece, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Photo courtesy of DFA
Nine of them, including an infant, got out of Khartoum through Port Sudan, where they were able to board a C-130 plane of the Saudi Royal Airforce that was bound for Jeddah.
The Philippine consulate received them on April 27, and provided them with travel documents, particularly those who were not able to bring their passports.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) shouldered the flight of the eight of them, who were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs); while the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah covered the plane fare of another Filipino, who was a student in Sudan.
Meanwhile, the eight remaining evacuees from the first batch escaped the fighting after boarding a military evacuation flight launched by the Greek government bound for Athens. They were all hotel workers in Sudan.
The Philippine Embassy in Athens received them on April 28, and were provided with free plane fare to Manila using the Assistance-To-Nationals Fund.
“The Philippine government is working round-the-clock to assist our kababayans who have left Sudan,” Manalo said, thanking also the foreign governments that extended assistance to Filipino evacuees.
Currently, 610 Filipinos have already been evacuated from Khartoum, with 391 of them having crossed to the Egyptian side of the border in buses chartered by the Philippine Embassy in Cairo and the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Sudan.
The embassy is also arranging the issuance of temporary visas and repatriation flights back to the Philippines, while the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and OWWA are preparing for shelter and other welfare assistance during transit.
Another 45 overseas Filipinos are expected to be evacuated by sea to Saudi Arabia, where the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah has also been providing the necessary support.
“Our DFA offices and diplomatic missions concerned are determined to bring our people home safely, as soon as possible,” Manalo said.