Over 68,000 Overseas Filipinos repatriated since February

More than 68,000 overseas Filipinos have been repatriated since the government started bringing them back in February amid the global health crisis, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday, July 4.

Almost 10,000 overseas Filipinos arrived in the country this week, bringing the total number of repatriated migrant Filipinos to 68,440.

Of this number, 51.23 percent or 35,059 overseas Filipinos are sea-based, and 48.77 percent or 33,381 overseas Filipinos are land-based, with the most recent repatriates arriving from Barbados, the Maldives, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the USA, on Friday, July 3.

The agency reported that it facilitated six flights from Saudi Arabia and seven flights from United Arab Emirates, which repatriated 1,630 and 2,208 fellow Filipinos, respectively. A total of 887 Filipinos were also brought back home from Kuwait and Oman.

Sea-based overseas Filipinos from Panama, Costa Rica, Barbados, UK, Germany, Norway, Canada, and Singapore also arrived this week.

“The DFA also mounted a chartered flight using its ATN Funds to bring home 183 stranded Filipinos, including three infants, and two cremated remains of overseas Filipino workers from Phuket, Thailand on June 29,” the agency said.

Green lane

A “green lane” for seafarers in Asia was also opened by the Philippines through the signing of the Philippine Green Lane Joint Circular on July 2.

The first-ever green lane, according to the DFA, will ensure that seafarers are accorded speedy and safe travel, subject to health protocols mandated by the Philippine government, including safe and swift disembarkation and crew change during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

COVID-19 cases overseas

Two new cases of COVID-19 among Filipinos abroad were reported Saturday, July 4 with 37 new recoveries and two fatalities. These numbers bring the total confirmed cases among overseas Filipinos to 8,629, recoveries at 5,200, and deaths at 563.

According to the DFA, through its Foreign Service Posts, the two confirmed cases were recorded in Asia and the Pacific, while the 37 new recovered patients were in the Americas and Asia and the Pacific. The two Filipinos, who succumbed to the illness, were recorded in one country in the Middle East.