DFA: 860 overseas Filipinos from Qatar, South Korea return to PH

A team from the DFA welcomes Filipino repatriates from Qatar upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday, July 9, 2020. Photo courtesy of the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 860 overseas Filipinos from Qatar and South Korea have been repatriated to the Philippines amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

The 323 overseas Filipinos from Qatar arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) via chartered flight Thursday morning, the DFA said. They were subjected to medical protocols as required by the Department of Health and were directed to undergo quarantine procedures in accordance with the omnibus guidelines established by the Interagency Task Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, it added.

Meanwhile, two special passenger flights carrying some 537 overseas Filipinos from South Korea arrived at NAIA on Tuesday, according to DFA.

The Philippine Embassy in Seoul said it has so far arranged a total of seven special passenger flights and facilitated the return of 1,269 stranded overseas Filipinos in coordination with other partner government agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and Manila International Airport Authorities.

To date, DFA has reported a total of 8,792 cases of the new coronavirus disease or COVID-19 among Filipinos abroad, Of the number, 2,946 remain under treatment while 5,254 have recovered as 592 have died from the disease.

KGA