Some 30 Filipinos awaiting repatriation to the Philippines are currently stuck at the Port of Sudan as flights became unavailable due to the Hajj pilgrimage, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday, July 13. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes (right) talks about the  repatriation of Filipinos staying in the Port of Sudan. (Laging Handa screenshot)
DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes shared during the Laging Handa public briefing that there are still some 150 Filipinos in conflict-torn Sudan, while 30–around 20 adults and nine children—are at the Port of Sudan, from where they would take a plane going to either Jeddah, Saudi Arabia or Doha, Qatar. “Medyo nahihirapan tayo kumuha ng flights para sa kanila kasi alam nyo naman ho Hajj pilgrimage ngayon sa Saudi, lalong-lalo na sa Jeddah kung saan malapit ang Mecca (We are having a hard time finding flights for them because, as you know, it’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi, especially in Jeddah, which is near Mecca),” the official explained. “Halos lahat ng kababayan natin na gusto umalis at dumaan ng Saudi ay nahihirapan dahil wala hong flights available dahil nga po sobrang daming tao ngayon sa Jeddah and Mecca (Almost all of our countrymen who want to leave and pass through Saudi are having a hard time because there are no available flights because there are many people now in Jeddah and Mecca),” he added. Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims. If they can, adult Muslims must make the pilgrimage at least once in their lives. Cortes said they meant to book one flight for all Filipinos who want to leave, but this would still depend on the availability of flights. There is also another “challenge” facing the Philippines in repatriating the remaining Filipinos in Sudan. “Meron din hong konting challenge dahil kailangan natin humingi sa Saudi o kaya sa Qatar ng entry visa para sa mga kababayan natin para pwede sila pumunta sa mga bayan na iyon kung saan sila kukuha ng flights papunta ng Pilipinas (There is also a slight challenge because we need to ask entry visas from Saudi or Qatar for our countrymen so they can pass through those countries where they will get flights to the Philippines),” he said. The official added that some Filipinos also failed to bring their passports and only have their travel documents with them since they were in a hurry to leave the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where the fighting started. Deadly fighting raged in Sudan since mid-April between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).