DFA: Over 51,000 overseas Filipinos return home amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday cautioned the public anew against carrying animal or livestock products to South Korea.

 (INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)

MANILA, Philippines — Over 51,000 overseas -based Filipinos have been brought home amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said a total of 51,113 OFWs have been repatriated since February 2020.

More than half or 29,302 of the returning OFWs are sea-based workers while the rest (more than 21,000 or 42% )are land-based.

“The most recent repatriates arrived from Japan, Norway, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, and Vietnam,” the DFA said in a post on Monday.

The foreign affairs department has chartered four flights this week for  1,464 OFWs from Saudi Arabia and Macau.

Meanwhile, 30 stranded Filipino migrant workers from India and Sri Lanka returned to the Philippines on board BRP Davao del Sur last Friday, the DFA said.

“The DFA, together with its Philippine embassies and consulates around the world, remains fully committed to bringing home our nationals abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.

All returning Filipino migrant workers are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine in government isolation facilities or hotels accredited by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ). #

gsg
Read more...