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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PH not taking in Palestine refugees shunned by South Africa

PH not taking in Palestine refugees shunned by South Africa

Published Nov 18, 2025 02:24 pm
Palestinians heading to receive food and humanitarian aid packages from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians heading to receive food and humanitarian aid packages from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro denied that a chartered flight carrying Palestinians originally bound to South Africa will be arriving in the Philippines.
She made this remark after her bilateral meeting with Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, who is currently in Manila for an official visit.
“If the airplane that brought these Palestinians to South Africa, if they would be flown here to Southeast Asia, if your question is to go to the Philippines, it's not true,” she said.
“That is something that we can categorically say it’s not true,” she added.
This came amid reports that South Africa will refuse the entry of more chartered flights carrying Palestinians, and that the flights would then be rerouted to Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.
Lazaro, however, said that accepting Palestinian refugees in the country is not purely a foreign affairs issue as it would have to be discussed among “concerned government agencies, particularly security agencies.
“The lead agency here will be the Bureau of Immigration because this will be the Department of Justice who will be in their hands. This will be a subject of, I'm sure, further discussions,” she stressed.
Earlier, South Africa received some 153 Palestinians from Gaza, but aspects of their arrival were reportedly unclear and disputed.
Its foreign minister has accused Israel of cleaning Gaza and the West Bank, but Israeli authorities did not respond to the allegation.

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Palestine DFA Ma. Theresa Lazaro Varsen Aghabekian Shahin
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