AFP: Coordination needed in repatriating Pinoys in Middle East

Coordination among stakeholders is needed to repatriate Filipinos in the Middle East, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said, adding that it is ready to assist in their return to the Philippines.

According to Chino Gaston’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” the AFP said it can deploy aircraft or vessels to repatriate Filipinos.

“There are a lot of intricacies in conducting these kinds of operations. This is not just the AFP to act on. So the AFP will act on it in accordance with directives from higher agencies, so this fusion of efforts from [Department of Migrant Worker], [Department of Foreign Affairs], and a directive from the Department of National Defense,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said.

However, it would not be easy to make a comparable comparison during the COVID?19 pandemic, as Vice President Sara Duterte had previously made such comparisons.

“It needs coordination lalo in this kind of situation na conflict wartime tayo, unlike COVID na more on the health risk na we’re considering the safety hindi lang ng movement ng lahat ng nasa airspace,” Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col Ma. Christina Basco said.

(This requires careful coordination since it is a wartime conflict, unlike COVID-19, which primarily poses a health risk. So, we're considering everyone’s safety and the movement of everyone in the airspace.)

On March 8, the Japanese and French governments repatriated their nationals from Oman.

According to the Oman News Agency, many people have been left stranded at airports in the Middle East due to the exchange of drones and missiles between Iran and the United States–Israel alliance.

An estimated 37,000 flights to and from the region have been canceled since the conflict escalated on February ?28.

The United Kingdom has also sent chartered flights to Dubai to repatriate stranded British nationals.

Malacañang said about 400 OFWs have returned to the Philippines so far.

An additional 20 from Dubai and 16 from Egypt are expected to return on Tuesday evening on a commercial flight.

Two chartered flights are scheduled to depart from Saudi Arabia on March 14, with another scheduled from the UAE.

DMW said it is more important to move Filipinos in the Middle East to safer locations rather than rush to arrange chartered flights back home.

“The host countries and our side together, we go with our processes and systems on how to send people home. So we book people on various flights, we cross them over land crossings,” DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News