Homebound. Some 300 overseas Filipinos prepare for the check-in at Kuwait International Airport, before taking their chartered Kuwait Airways flight to Manila on 1 July 2020. This is the second repatriation flight arranged by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait this week. (Kuwait PE photos)
The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait on 1 July 2020 mounted its second chartered Kuwait Airways flight in three days—carrying 318 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) displaced by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Kuwait, and bringing to 3,098 the total number of OFWs who were repatriated from Kuwait since the COVID-19 crisis began in March 2020.
In a statement, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. and Consul General to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot expressed his gratitude to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) for approving the Embassy’s flight clearance request for this week’s two chartered repatriation flights.
“The close coordination between the Embassy and the DFA made possible the approval by CAAP of the second Kuwait-to-Manila flight this week. This also shows the Philippine government’s commitment to bring home our kababayan who are adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown in Kuwait,” Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot said.
The cost of the air tickets of about half of the 318 Filipinos onboard the chartered repatriation flight was shouldered by their respective companies and employers, while the other half of the tickets will be paid by the Embassy under the DFA’s Assistance to Nationals Fund.
Majority of those who were repatriated on Wednesday are Visa 18 (private sector) OFWs who either were at the end employment contracts, were terminated from their positions, or were placed under a “no work, no pay” arrangement during the three-month-long COVID-19 lockdown in Kuwait. The Embassy also repatriated a group of pregnant Filipino women who expressed their desire to give birth in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Embassy reminds the Filipino community in Kuwait to signify their intent to be repatriated to the Philippines by answering the Embassy’s ongoing online survey, which may be accessed via this link: http://bit.ly/KuwaitPESurveyRepat.
According to the public advisory released by the Embassy on 30 June 2020, Filipinos in Kuwait do not need to call the Embassy’s hotlines or visit the Embassy to register their names for their possible repatriation by the Embassy. “Due to physical distancing measures at the Embassy, the Embassy discourages Filipinos in Kuwait from visiting the Embassy to inquire or request for their repatriation. The online survey already serves the purpose of receiving repatriation requests from Filipinos in Kuwait,” the Embassy’s public advisory reads. END
Visit the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait's Coronavirus Disease 2019 webpage for the latest updates and advisories on the COVID-19 situation in Kuwait: https://kuwaitpe.dfa.gov.ph/covid19
