Some 13 Filipino repatriates from Baghdad and Erbil arrived in Manila on Wednesday afternoon, days after tensions rose in the region and the Philippine government ordered a mandatory evacuation in Iraq.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the first group from Baghdad, which comprises seven adults and two minors, was supposed to arrive yesterday but was initially held by Iraqi immigration officials at the Baghdad International Airport for “baseless allegations of visa fraud.”
The second group, on the other hand, is composed of four adults from Erbil, a city located north of Baghdad.
Both groups will be transiting Doha, Qatar before arriving in Manila.
Alert Level 4 or mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Iraq was raised on Jan. 8 due to growing security threats in the Middle East.
At present, the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers
Affairs is coordinating the repatriation of distressed Filipinos abroad.
“The repatriates arriving today comprise the first batch of Filipinos coming home after the government ordered mandatory repatriation,” DFA
Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.
She said more Filipinos from affected areas were expected to come home before long.
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier announced that the DFA is deploying rapid response teams to the Middle East, especially to Iraq and Iran, to help facilitate the repatriation of Filipinos in the region.
Asked about the number of Filipinos scheduled for repatriation in the coming weeks, DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Menez said the Embassy is still on the process of “seeking requests for repatriation.”
