FILE PHOTO: Heavy smoke bellows above buildings in the vicinity of the Khartoum’s airport on April 15, 2023, amid clashes in the Sudanese capital. – Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital on April 15 as paramilitaries and the regular army traded attacks on each other’s bases, days after the army warned the country was at a “dangerous” turning point. (Photo by AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Fifty more Filipinos have been extracted from Sudan and brought to Egypt, Malacañang said Thursday. This drove the total number of Filipinos evacuated from the conflict-torn African country to 409.
Of the 50, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said 35 were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) while 15 were students.
The PCO also said that all 50 were safely brought to Egypt with the help of Filipinos in Sudan as well as personnel from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
The other 335 OFWs and their family members left Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on April 26 for Egypt via Wadi Halfa Highway.
READ: DFA says 300 more Filipinos move out of Sudan but are stuck in border
“The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has so far evacuated some 409 Filipino nationals from conflict-torn Sudan as it pushed on mass evacuation efforts amid a three-day ceasefire declared on Tuesday,” the PCO said in a statement.
DMW Secretary Susan Ople and Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac were in Cairo, Egypt, to assist in the government’s evacuation efforts and lead the distribution of welfare assistance to evacuated OFWs from Sudan.
In a briefing on Tuesday, April 25, Ople said the President directed them to immediately bring all affected Filipinos in Sudan to safety.
READ: Gov’t eyes giving Filipino repatriates in Sudan ‘temporary jobs’ in Saudi Arabia — Ople
Ople likewise said that even those who are not in possession of any passport or identity card will still be given aid and that their documents will be taken care of when they reach the border, with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) taking the lead.
The PCO also confirmed that Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago and Vice Consul Bojer Capati figured in a car accident while in a rush to get to the Sudan-Egypt border to help Filipino evacuees.
Both officials, however, are safe and are still proceeding to facilitate the evacuation.
READ: 2 PH envoys rushing to Sudan border figure in road crash
The Philippine Embassy in Egypt has jurisdiction over Filipinos in Sudan.
For its part, the Department of National Defense (DND) said it continues to closely coordinate with concerned agencies to address the immediate needs of the Filipinos seeking repatriation.
DND officer-in-charge Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez said he has already coordinated with the DFA for the repositioning of Defense Attaché from the United Arab Emirates and Israel to help the Philippine Embassy in Cairo in the evacuation of Filipinos from Sudan.
Since the violence erupted in Sudan 11 days ago, 459 deaths and 4,072 injured people have been reported, with the World Health Organization warning of “huge biological risks” to people as Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has taken over the National Public Health Laboratory in Khartoum.
The DFA on Wednesday night raised Alert Level 3 in Sudan amid the ongoing political crisis worsened by clashes between two warring factions that broke out in the country last April 15.
“The public is informed that Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation/Evacuation) has been raised for the whole of the Sudan region due to the ongoing political situation in the country,” the DFA said in an advisory.
READ: More Filipinos move out of Sudan but are stuck in border – DFA