A picture taken from the southern Israeli border city of Sderot shows smoke rising above buildings in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli strike on November 4, 2023, as battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants continue. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ / Agence France-Presse)
MANILA, Philippines — All 136 Filipinos who had been waiting for exit clearances at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza have been given approval and are expected to return to the country within days, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.
“We received the notice from the Israeli government that all 136 Filipinos have been given approval, have been given the exit clearance to leave,” said Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Eduardo de Vega in a briefing hosted by the Saturday News Forum.
But because of the number of foreigners awaiting exit clearances at Rafah, the stranded Filipinos will have to be evacuated by batches to Cairo, more than 300 kilometers west-southwest of the border crossing.
American news organizations reported that more than a thousand foreign passport holders have exited Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but only two Filipinos, both physicians connected with Doctors Without Borders, are confirmed to have exited through Rafah.
De Vega said the first batch of 20 Filipinos are expected to exit into Egypt on Sunday, followed by the second batch of 23 Filipinos who may exit either Monday or Tuesday.
“The Israeli ambassador [Ilan Fluss] has confirmed that they are really working to provide us more slots quickly because we are a priority,” De Vega said.
However, the veteran diplomat said, fewer Filipinos may leave than initially expected after they learned that their Palestinian spouses will not be allowed to exit through Rafah.“It appears that our countrymen themselves are not so keen to come home,” De Vega said.
Initially, 115 of the Filipinos in Gaza expressed intentions to evacuate the war-torn area, but since many of them have Palestinian spouses, only 43 remain committed to being repatriated.
“We understand that there are family considerations,” De Vega said. “However, not being Filipino citizens, there’s only so much that we can do in terms of representations.”