138 stranded Filipinos in Bahrain repatriated

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Philippine Embassy continues to provide assistance in repatriating stranded Filipinos in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is part of the Philippine government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) response programme to repatriate distressed Overseas Filipinos (OFs) from all over the world.

This week, a total of 138 stranded Filipino nationals in Bahrain arrived in the Philippines through the Repatriation Programme of the Embassy.

Amid the ongoing pandemic, many of the passengers have been stranded in Bahrain for weeks or even months due to limitations in flights and seats from Bahrain to the Philippines.

The exorbitant cost of airfare also prevented many of the passengers to book earlier flights to the Philippines.

Through the efforts of the Embassy, a special repatriation flight was arranged to ferry the stranded Filipinos via Gulf Air’s direct commercial flight.

The Embassy, using the Assistance-to-Nationals Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, shouldered the airfare of most of the passengers availing of a negotiated rate with Gulf Air to allow more Filipino nationals to benefit from the repatriation program.

The Embassy also coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (DFA-OUMWA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and other agencies for the exemption of the repatriates from the arrival limitations as well as for the facilitation of quarantine facilities for the repatriates.

The repatriates included infants and children, overstaying OFs, pardoned detainees, medical patients, pregnant women, and wards at the Embassy Shelter.