17 Pinoy evacuees from Sudan arrive in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The first batch of 17 Filipino evacuees from Sudan arrived on Saturday in Manila after flying out from Athens in Greece and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and officials of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration welcomed the first batch of evacuees.

Eight of the Filipinos were hotel workers in Sudan who boarded a military evacuation flight after representations made with the Greek government by the Philippine embassy in Athens.

The embassy received the group in Athens on Friday morning and arranged for their flight back to the Philippines through the DFA’s assistance-to-nationals fund.

The remaining nine Filipinos, including an infant, fled Khartoum via Port Sudan where they boarded a C-130 plane of the Saudi Royal Air Force bound for Jeddah.