FILE PHOTO: Over 40 Filipinos arrive in Lviv and are awaiting repatriation amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Photo from the Department of Foreign Affairs website
MANILA, Philippines — Some 141 Filipinos — some of whom are hesitant or refuse to be repatriated — are still in Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Wednesday.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said 45 Filipinos are in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv who do not want to evacuate yet despite the threat of the invasion. Meanwhile, 15 are in Lviv which is close to the border of neighboring country Poland.
Moreover, 55 Filipinos are located close to the border of Hungary who evacuated but are not yet ready to cross the border to another country.
“Gusto muna nila doon. Nandun yung wait-and-see attitude (Some want to stay there for now. There is this wait-and-see attitude),” Arriola said in an interview with Teleradyo.
“The rest of them, kalat-kalat na po… Medyo kalat-kalat sila ngayon pero marami na rin ang nakatawid,” she added.
(The rest are scattered… They are scattered right now but many have already crossed borders.)
According to Arriola, 40 Filipinos have already been evacuated out of Ukraine. However, she noted that some Filipinos refuse or are hesitant to be repatriated.
Some Filipinos in Lviv who refuse to be evacuated were instead given financial assistance, said Arriola.
“We’re giving more kasi maraming may hesitance kasi yung iba married talaga sa Ukranian… Nagiging mahirap sa ating mga kababayan na iwan yung kanilang pamilya. Because of the family separation, there is really a lot of hesitance,” she added.
(We’re giving more because there’s really hesitancy since some are married to Ukraine nationals… It’s hard for our countrymen to leave their families.)
Some household workers, Arriola said, also prefer to stay with their employers.
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