MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ready to render assistance to returning Overseas Filipinos (OF) from conflict-torn Sudan.
The eight Filipinos fled from Khartoum, Sudan and arrived in Greece onboard a Greek military aircraft. Philippine Ambassador to Greece Giovanni Palec received the evacuees, who are expected to arrive in the Philippines at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said the Field Office-NCR and the DSWD’s Program Management Bureau (PMB) are the lead agencies that will assist the returning overseas Filipinos.
Lopez said social workers from DSWD’s National Capital Region Field Office are now at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 waiting for the arrival of the eight Filipino repatriates via Qatar Airways Flight No. QR 204.
“If there is a requirement for temporary shelter we will bring them to the Mandaluyong office of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking,” Lopez said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs reported that more than 300 Filipinos have been safely evacuated from Sudan in the last 12 hours, with the number of Filipinos who have fled Khartoum reaching 496. (PNA)
