374 Filipinos return to PH from UAE; repatriates now total 3,724

The Department of Foreign Affairs repatriates 374 Filipinos from the UAE. Photo from the DFA

MANILA, Philippines — Some 374 Filipinos, including 78 pregnant women, were flown home to the Philippines from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), pushing the total number of repatriates from the country to 3,724, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

In a statement Tuesday, the DFA said the latest batch of repatriates arrived in Manila on July 31 through the department’s ninth chartered flight from the UAE.

All repatriates received $200 as reintegration assistance from the DFA and will undergo a mandatory 14-day facility-based quarantine, the department said.

In July alone, the DFA repatriated 1,415 Filipinos from the UAE while 1,037 Filipinos were flown home in June.

Four flights were mounted in July while three flights were chartered in June, the DFA said.

“We recognize the efforts of the men and women in our Posts overseas and at the Home Office, as we see in the increased number of the total number of Filipinos repatriated in July. We also recognize the assistance of other government agencies who work closely with us in this repatriation process,” DFA Undersecretary for Migrants’ Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.

“While the DFA continues to mount more flights in the coming months, we also recognize the importance of special commercial repatriation of Bayanihan flights, as we call them, which will really supplement the repatriation efforts. We expect to bring home most stranded Filipinos from the UAE by the end of August,” she added.

The chartered repatriation flights from the UAE were all funded through the department’s Assistance To National Fund.

EDV