Distressed OFWs brought home


July 13, 2019
 

By

Cristina Lee-Pisco
 
People's Journal

THE Philippine Embassy in Kuwait repatriated a group of 45 undocumented and distressed overseas Filipino workers, the fourth batch helped under the Embassy Assisted Repatriation Program (EARP).

This brought to 201 the number of OFWs who were brought back home by the Embassy this year.
“I am very thankful to the Illegal Residency Monitoring and Immigration Departments of Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior for the invaluable assistance they have provided the Embassy. I would also like to thank the dynamic and resilient officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy for their commitment and dedication in making EARP successful,” Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot said in a statement.
At the same time, Lomondot said that the EARP with the Kuwaiti government “will continue all year round, as long as there are undocumented and distressed Filipinos who want to be repatriated back home.”
The EARP is a joint program of the Embassy and the Kuwaiti government, through the Illegal Residency Monitoring and Immigration Departments of the Ministry of Interior. It aims to repatriate overseas Filipinos who were charged with absconding or had expired visa cases at the Immigration Department, without having to be detained.
Funding for the EARP is sourced from the P1 billion Assistance to Nationals Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs for 2019.
Apart from the all-expense-paid one-way air ticket from Kuwait to Manila, 23 out of the 45 EARP beneficiaries were also provided with one-way air tickets from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila to their respective provinces.
Other forms of welfare assistance were given to the repatriates, such as land transportation from the Embassy to Kuwait International Airport, and food provisions.
Forty-four undocumented and distressed OFWs were repatriated to the Philippines under the EARP last February 13, 2019, followed by another 44 on March 7 and a batch of 68 last  April 11.
In another repatriation-related news, the Medical Response Team of the Embassy’s Assistance to National’s Unit assisted last June 2019 in the medical repatriation of OFW Eva Parmis, who had been aided and monitored while she was being treated in the hospital.
“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa lahat ng mga taga-Philippine Embassy dito sa Kuwait na mula sa simula ay tinulungan at inalalayan ako sa mga check-up ko, pati ng maospital ako, para gumaling sa aking karamdaman at makauwi ako sa Pilipinas. Maraming salamat din po sa Gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa tulong na ibinigay nyo sa akin. Kung hindi dahil sa inyo, hindi ako makakauwi sa Pinas para makasama ang aking pamilya,” said  Parmis.

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