Over 1,000 Filipinos from Middle East, South Korea return to PH

MANILA, Philippines — Over a thousand overseas Filipinos from parts of the Middle East and South Korea have returned to the Philippines over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.

Some 317 OFWs from the United Arab Emirates, 57 from Manama in Bahrain, 304 from Saudi Arabia, and 244 from Kuwait were repatriated into the country, the DFA said in a series of tweets.

At least 109 Filipinos from South Korea also arrived in the country on Sunday.

“The DFA credits this successful repatriation to the strong Bayanihan spirit amid the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic,” DFA said.

Just last week, a total of 6,344 overseas Filipinos returned to the Philippines from the Middle East via 28 special repatriation flights.

DFA said 5,162 of these overseas Filipinos were flown from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Overall, DFA said it repatriated some 7,732 overseas Filipinos last week, bringing the total number of Filipinos who returned home since February to over 231,000.

Of the total number, more than 76,000 were sea-based while at least 154,000 were land-based.

EDV