2 Pinoy officials nadisgrasya habang tinutulungan OFWs sa Sudan-Egypt border

Passengers fleeing war-torn Sudan disembark at the Wadi Karkar bus station near the Egyptian city of Aswan, on April 25, 2023. Ten days of heavy fighting until April 24 -- including air strikes and artillery barrages -- have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.
AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Lalo pang dumami ang bilang ng mga Pilipinong nais mag-evacuate mula sa bansang Sudan, ito matapos ang ilang linggong bakbakan sa pagitan ng mga paksyong militar na umagaw sa kapangyarihang pampulitika ng gobyerno roon noong 2021 coup d'état.

Ibinahagi ito ni Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega sa Philstar.com, Miyerkules, habang ginagamit ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas ang 72-hour ceasefire na idineklara sa bansa para ilikas ang mga Pinoy na naiipit sa West African country.

"Wednesday morning Sudan time (minus 6 hours from Philippine time), at least 7 more  buses are leaving for Egypt with 300 repatriates minimum," ani De Vega kanina.

"The problem is the LONG processing at Egyptian border! Taking over a day. Our Embassy is sending teams to try to fix it."

Narito ang breakdown ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) pagdating sa mga naiipit na overseas Filipinos sa Sudan:

  • nakarehistrong Pinoy sa Sudan: 740
  • Pilipinong humingi ng tulong makauwi: 350
  • Pilipinong nakaalis na Sudan: 80 (kasama ang unang batch ng 50 evacuees)
  • Pilipinong nasa Sudan pa at gusto umuwi: 270

Sa kabutihang palad, wala pang Pinoy na namamatay dulot ng kaguluhan. Gayunpaman, isa ang nasugatan sa kamay matapos tamaan ng ligaw na bala. Nagpapagaling na siya ngayon.

"Philippine Honorary Consul Tariq has distributed welfare assistance to  priority groups including senior citizens and families with small children in Khartoum," sabi pa ni De Vega.

"The Embassy continues to monitor developments in Sudan ; continues to coordinate the evacuation and repatriation of Filipinos and is in communication with Filipinos to ensure their safety and well-being.  It has issued a number of advisories on the situation as well as  on the evacuation/ repatriation efforts."

Nadisgrasya habang sumasaklolo

Dagdag pa ng DFA, nadisgrasya pa nga ang ilang opisyal ng Pilipinas gaya nina Ambassador of the Philippines to Egypt Ezzedin Tago at Vice Consul Bojer Capati habang nagmamadali makapagbigay ng tulong sa mga kababayang nais tumawid sa border ng Ehipto.

"[T]heir car rolled over two times. But they survived and are STILL proceeding somehow to border later today.  The vice consul is first clearing with hospital now," ani De Vega.

"This is the DFA’s commitment to our Overseas Filipinos and we hope the public can be advised and reassured that we are doing what we can."

Samantala, tumutulong na rin ngayon ang France na i-evacuate ang ilang Pilipino sa Sudan. 

Aabot na sa 538 ang kanilang nae-evacuate kasama ang 209 French nationals at foreign nationals mula sa 41 iba pang bansa.

Marami sa mga natulungan nila ay galing sa Britanya, South Africa, Burundi, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, Niger, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Amerika, India, Japan at Pilipinas. — may mga ulat mula kay Kaycee Valmonte

Show comments