95 more Pinoys back from Sudan, total repatriates now nearly 500 —DFA official

Department of Foreign Affairs  Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes on Wednesday said 95 Filipinos from conflict-hit Sudan arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday evening.

“So nakatala na po tayo ng over 400 plus 95 po na dumating po kagabi, so that's over 400 na po, halos 500 na po,” Cortes said at a televised public briefing.

(So we recorded over 400 repatriated Filipinos, 379 plus the 95 Filipinos who arrived last night, so that’s over 400 or almost 500 already.)

According to Cortes, there are 864 registered Filipinos in Sudan.

Another batch of Filipinos who evacuated from Sudan are still staying in Cairo, Egypt.

Some Filipinos are on their way to Port Sudan and will be transported to Jeddah by the Saudi Arabian government through a vessel. In Jeddah, these Filipinos will wait for flights to the Philippines.

More Filipinos will return to the Philippines this Wednesday until Friday.

According to Cortes, around 50 to 60 Pinoys are still staying in Khartoum, Sudan.

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said 604 people had been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the violence erupted on April 15 between the two rival military factions.

More than 700,000 people have fled their homes in Sudan to escape from fighting between rival military factions, according to the International Organization for Migration. —LBG, GMA Integrated News