Charter flights faster, more cost-efficient for Middle East repatriation — DMW

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Wednesday that charter flights are the more cost-efficient and faster way to bring repatriates home from the Middle East.

In a statement, the DMW said that commercial flights often had limited availability of seats and took around a month and a half for the whole process.

Meanwhile, charter flights only take two weeks for a complete repatriation.

The DMW said that they are now looking into more chartered flights from the Middle East in coordination with Migrant Workers Offices and Philippine embassies in the region.

Earlier, the DMW shared that 4,611 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their dependents have been repatriated as of April 6.

Of the said number, some were repatriated through 7 government-arranged chartered flights.

Two more chartered flights are set to arrive in the country over the weekend with more repatriates from the war-torn region. 

No deployment ban

Also on Wednesday, the DMW clarified that there is no deployment ban in the Middle East following reports that 40,000 OFWs were stranded.

“Our shared responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of our OFWs, especially in times of crisis,” said Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac.

They also noted a decrease in deployment as OFWs have been backing out from jobs in the Middle East due to several factors, including flight cancellations and safety concerns.               

Cacdac said that government agencies continue to deliver assistance to any OFWs in need.

Various alert levels remain up over several countries in the Middle East as tensions continue between US, Israel, and Iran, but a temporary two-week ceasefire has now been set in place by US President Donald Trump and the Iranian government. — RSJ, GMA News