200 more Pinoys in Saudi Arabia return home after amnesty


Some 200 undocumented Filipinos were on their way home Tuesday after availing of the amnesty offered by the Saudi Arabian government.
The group left Jeddah Tuesday morning on board an Emirates Airlines flight and is expected to arrive in Manila on the wee hours of Wednesday.
"Para pong nasa... hindi ko po masabi ang pakiramdam ko po dahil sa sobrang tuwa," Iluminada Ermino, who has been illegally staying in the Kingdom for 16 years, said.
"Halos hindi na po ako makatulog nang mabigyan ako ng exit [visa]. Maraming maraming salamat po dahil ngayon ay makakauwi na rin sa haba ng panahon ng paghihirap ko makikita ko na rin pamilya ko," said the 64-year-old Filipina.
According to Consul General Imelda Panolong, some 5,500 undocumented Filipinos have already registered for the amnesty since it started on March 29.
The amnesty period will last up to the last day of June, and Panolong said the number of Filipinos who will avail of it could balloon to 7,000.
"So far ang nakapag-register na ng gustong mag-avail ng amnesty ay around 5,500 na mula nung mag-umpisa ang registration natin nuong March 29, so we are expecting na madadagdagan pa ito ng 1,500 etong natitirang isang buwan," she said.
Panolong said they have already endorsed 4,000 Filipinos to the deportation center while 2,600 were already given their exit visas.
She said some 800 undocumented Filipinos were already sent home since the amnesty started. —Ronaldo Concha/KBK, GMA News

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