768 OFWs arrive in Manila from war-torn Libya — DFA

(Updated 2:30 p.m.) A total of 768 overseas Filipino workers returned from Libya in two chartered Philippine Airlines between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

Because of the heavy fighting between rival militias, the Department of Foreign Affairs had declared a Crisis Alert Level 4 on Libya last July 20, placing a total deployment ban on the North African country and calling for the mandatory repatriation of all OFWs.

The first batch of 419 OFWs arrived at the NAIA 2 at 10 p.m. Saturday, and were welcomed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Vice President and presidential adviser on OFW concerns Jejomar Binay.

A second batch of 349 then arrived at the NAIA 2 at 3:45 a.m..

The returning OFWs were given bags containing food, water and T-shirts.

Many of the OFWs appeared overwhelmed by their experience as they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, radio dzBB's Roland Bola reported.

The DFA, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration had earlier chartered a ship, the F/B Bridge, and the two PAL flights to bring the OFWs home.

The OFWs were first brought by the ship to Malta, from were they were flown home by the planes.

"Repatriation from Libya is being undertaken via land route through the Libya-Tunisia border and via sea route to Malta. The Government is also exploring the use of the Libya-Egypt border as a possible exit point," the DFA said.

OFWs repatriated from Libya

Meanwhile, Malacañang disclosed that a total of 2,727 Filipinos have been repatriated from Libya so far.
 
Secretary Herminio Coloma urged all Filipinos who are still in Libya to avail of repatriation services offered by the government. 
 
"Nananawagan muli ang pamahalaan sa lahat ng mga Pilipino na nananatili sa Libya na makipag-ugnayan sa embahada sa Tripoli at magparehistro na para matulungang makabalik sa bansa sa lalong madaling panahon," he said in an interview on dzRB radio on Sunday.
 
Some 13,000 Filipinos were working in Libya last year, based on government data. 
 
For assistance, OFWs in Libya may contact the Philippine Embassy at (00218) 918-244-208 / (00218) 914-370-399 / (00218) 945-348-481, or email tripoli.pe@gmail.com andtripoli.pe@dfa.gov.ph.
 
The Philippine Embassy in Libya is located at Kilometer 7, Gargaresh Road, Abu Nawas, P.O. Box 12508, Tripoli. — Joel Locsin and Rouchelle R. Dinglasan /DVM/LBG, GMA News
 
 

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