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MANILA, Philippines – More than 111,000 Filipinos abroad are expected to be repatriated to the Philippines in December this year as nations continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.
During the House committee’s online hearing on overseas workers’ issues, DFA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said there are still 111,258 Filipinos abroad who are expected to return home before the end of year.
“This could still increase, considering that amnesties in destination countries will expire in November and December. Definitely, for Bahrain, it will expire on December 31 and I think for the United Arab Emirates, it will be next November, ”said Arriola.
By November, Arriola said that DFA had scheduled chartered flights from Guang Zhou in China, Dili in Timor Leste and Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia to bring home Filipinos from abroad.
There will also be flights from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Thailand.
Arriola said DFA has so far repatriated 233,742 Filipinos overseas, 76,556 are OFW at sea, while 157,186 are on land.
As of October 28, a total of 11,224 Filipinos abroad have contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Of this number, 7,254 have recovered, 3,153 are in treatment and 817 have died.
Most of the cases are in the Middle East and Africa with 7,380; followed by the Asia Pacific Region with 1,798 cases; Europe in 1,230 cases; and Americas in 816 cases. [ac]
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