Closed airports, roads hinder repatriation of 63 Filipinos from Haiti —DMW

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Wednesday admitted to facing a few setbacks in having the 63 Filipinos from Haiti get repatriated amid the ongoing violent gang activities there.

“Right now, may difficulty. Sarado ang international airport and even land travel is hindered, lalo na ang travel to the capital. So sa ngayon, quietly, isinasaayos pa 'yung chartered flight pauwi,” DMW officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac said at a press conference Wednesday.

(Right now, there is a difficulty. The international airport is closed and even land travel is hindered, especially the travel to the capital. Right now, the chartered flight home is still being arranged.)

Cacdac said Monday that the 63 Filipinos who expressed willingness to get repatriated from Haiti may be sent back to the Philippines this week.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier raised the alert level in Haiti to 3, mandating voluntary repatriation for Filipinos "in view of the current unstable security situation” there.

There are 169 recorded Filipinos in Haiti, with the majority of them residing in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Cacdac said that the DMW is still coordinating with the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Washington for the repatriation of the Filipinos who want to go home.

The gang violence in Haiti escalated as citizens await the replacement of Prime Minister Ariel Henry who resigned from his post.

Reuters reported Tuesday that more than 10 bodies were removed by ambulance from an affluent Haiti suburb as tensions continue to rise pending the announcement of a new government.—AOL, GMA Integrated News