Photo credit: Official Facebook page of Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Work Affairs
Doha: The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) and the Philippine Embassy in Doha (Doha PE), repatriated about 238 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Doha, Qatar.
Another repatriation flight is scheduled to depart from Doha on August 31, with the embassy providing required assistance for the same.
This announcement about the latest batch of repatriates from the Middle East that landed home yesterday was posted by the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Work Affairs on their official Facebook page which was further reshared by the Philippine Embassy in Doha.
The repatriation flight took home 238 OFWs from Doha, Qatar via Philippine Airlines Flight 8685. Sixty-six shelter wards from the Philippine Embassy in Doha were supposed to join the flight but were not able to do so after testing positive for COVID-19.
The repatriated OFWs also received a financial assistance worth USD 200 that would help enable them to start a new life in their home country.
Upon landing, the repatriates underwent the appropriate medical protocols as required by the Department of Health-Bureau of Quarantine. They would also be required to undergo quarantine in accordance with the omnibus guidelines established by the Inter-Agency Task Force.
In the same announcement, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, Sarah Lou Y. Arriola stated: “In line with the commitment of the DFA to protect the welfare and well-being of Filipinos overseas, we welcome home this morning 238 distressed OFWs, who have sought repatriation assistance from the Department. The DFA acted decisively and brought them home.”
The statement also affirmed that "the DFA, together with its Philippine embassies and consulates around the world, continues to work with the various national agencies in assisting our Filipinos around the world in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis".
