MANILA, Philippines — More than 9,000 migrant workers returned home last week, bringing the total number of Filipinos repatriated due to the pandemic to more than 213,000, the foreign affairs department said.
Of the total 213,942 migrant workers who have come home since February, 66.35% — or 141,944 — are land-based. Meanwhile, the remaining 33.65% —or 71,998 — had sea-based occupations.
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"Our overseas Filipinos from the Middle East continue to comprise most of the repatriates," DFA said on Sunday, further reporting that about 85% of last week's 9,461 repatriates were from the said region.
"A total of 8,110 of our nationals were repatriated from the Middle East this week on board 30 special commercial repatriation flights facilitated by the DFA. More than 6,000 of these repatriates arrived from Saudi Arabia and the [United Arab Emirates]."
The agency said it also assisted two medical repatriates from Brazil and Spain last week while the remaining 1,349 Filipinos flew home from Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and Turkey.
"The DFA, together with its Philippine embassies, consulates and attached agencies, remains fully committed to bringing home our nationals abroad amid the continuous onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic," the department said. — Bella Perez-Rubio