The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) ended August on a strong note, repatriating a total of 42,583 overseas Filipinos last month. The DFA was relentless in its repatriation efforts despite the imposition of MECQ during the first half of the month.
An overwhelming majority (76.1%) of the August repatriates flew in from the Middle East while the rest came from Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
The breakdown of the returnees are as follows:
32,389 or 76.1% from the Middle East;
4,423 or 10.4% from Asia and the Pacific;
4,109 or 9.6% from the Americas;
1,571 or 3.7% from Europe; and
91 or 0.2% from Africa.
The DFA also mounted nine chartered flights in August which brought home distressed Filipinos from Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. These DFA-chartered flights were paid for using the Assistance-to-Nationals Fund. The Department, through its Philippine Embassy in Tehran and in coordination with its partner government agencies, also successfully brought home stranded OFWs in Uzbekistan in late August despite the lack of an embassy and consulate general in the country.
As the month of September begins, the DFA stands ready to bring home overseas Filipinos from all around the world. In fact, the second batch of repatriates from Lebanon, following the blast at Beirut Port, arrived safely last week on board a DFA-chartered Philippine Airlines flight. As of 05 September 2020, the DFA has brought home 164,368 overseas Filipinos.
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