The government is set to repatriate some 340 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the conflict-torn Sudan in the coming days, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said Saturday.
Ople told President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that a DMW team and a contingent from the Philippine embassy in Cairo, Egypt are now tending to the Filipinos seeking to return home after being caught in the midst of clashes between two warring factions in Sudan.
“The embassy and our DMW teams will make sure they will all be treated well onboard buses and in Cairo,” Ople said.
Ople added the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials and personnel are now processing the required clearances and exit visas for the immediate departure of the Filipinos from the northeastern African country.
Ople earlier flew to Cairo to lead the distribution of welfare assistance to evacuated OFWs from Sudan.
This developed as the DFA announced the said Filipino migrant workers were safely evacuated from Sudan in the last 12 hours through government efforts.
Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago welcomed 340 Filipinos from Khartoum at the Argeen border Saturday morning there after they were cleared by Egyptian authorities for entry. There have been delays in the processing at the Egyptian border due to the influx of evacuees.
Eight Filipinos from Khartoum arrived in Greece on a military aircraft. Philippine Ambassador Giovanni Palec received the evacuees, who will be repatriated via the next available flight to Manila, the DFA added.
To date, there are 58 Filipinos in Port Sudan, awaiting the ship that will bring them to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where 16 Filipinos have already been received by the team led by Consul General Edgar Tomas Auxilian.
DFA teams in Athens, Jeddah, and at the Egypt-Sudan border have been assisting Filipinos from Khartoum and are making arrangements for their repatriation via the next available flights.
Coordination with the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Greece on the safe passage of Filipino evacuees is continuing through the respective Philippine embassies.
So far, some 496 Filipinos have fled Khartoum, the DFA reported.
On Tuesday, President Marcos said the government is doing the necessary preparations in anticipation of the 72-hour ceasefire declared in Sudan, hoping it could provide an opportunity to bring home Filipinos from the war-torn country.
“Right now, we are hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire that has been declared will hold and we will — we are preparing ourselves,” the President said.
“So we’re trying — we’re watching this situation very, very closely and to see if there’s a window of opportunity na mailabas natin ang mga Philippine nationals natin,” he added. | PND
