Pinoys repatriation from Sri Lanka set

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said that they hoped to bring back Filipinos from Sri Lanka by the end of the month.

In an interview, Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega stated that they hoped to purchase tickets soon for Filipinos who wanted to fly out of Sri Lanka.

“We were planning for a sweeper flight... but that’s difficult to arrange because there are a lot of requirements, so there might be a delay,” De Vega said.

According to the Embassy, no Filipinos were hurt during the latest outbreak of violent protests.

“So what we want to do is fund tickets that Filipinos can buy on commercial flights so they can go back home,” he added.

“Our target date is, because today is 20 July, we hope some will be already home by the end of the month. The original sweeper flight we were planning was for the first week of August, but I doubt that will still push through so we need to have funded tickets by then,” De Vega said.

Filipinos in Sri Lanka may seek assistance for repatriation through OFW HELP PH Facebook page or contact the DFA Main Office at (02) 8834-4996.

There are currently 700 Filipinos in Sri Lanka, where 115 signified their interest to return to the Philippines. Some of them are married to Sri Lankan nationals.

On Saturday, the DFA raised the alert level status in Sri Lanka to Alert Level 2.

In an advisory, the DFA raised the Alert Level due to the security situation in the country. There will be no new deployment of overseas Filipino workers, and only OFW with existing employment contracts are allowed to return to the country.

Given the country’s continuous economic crisis, the DFA, through the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka, is in close cooperation with the Filipino community in Sri Lanka.

According to the Embassy, no Filipinos were hurt during the latest outbreak of violent protests. The Department will provide aid to Filipinos who have been badly impacted by the crisis in collaboration with the office of the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Colombo.

The DFA urges Filipinos to stay at home as much as possible, avoid protests, and desist from participating in mass action for their safety and well-being amid ongoing tensions in the country.