117 more OFWs return from Saudi Arabia as government repatriation continues after Riyadh airport attack

A further 117 overseas Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia arrived in Manila on 25 October under government-assisted voluntary repatriation, as the DMW and OWWA said they had assisted 383 OFWs and dependents from 19 to 25 October.

A total of 117 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Saudi Arabia returned to the Philippines on Sunday, 25 October, through government-assisted voluntary repatriation, INQUIRER.net reported. They arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 aboard Gulf Air flight GF154 and Qatar Airways flight QR928, with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) facilitating their return.

The returning workers were provided with medical and financial assistance, temporary accommodation and transportation to their home provinces. The DMW and OWWA said they assisted the return of 383 OFWs and their dependents from 19 to 25 October.

The DMW first repatriated 34 OFWs on 19 October, after a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport on 10 October killed at least 12 people and injured over 300 others, including four Filipinos, according to INQUIRER.net. The Philippine News Agency reported that the first batch arrived aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha after travelling from Al Qassim, and that travel arrangements were being made for workers from Hail, Al Qassim and Dammam through alternative routes.

The assistance is funded through the DMW's AKSYON Fund and OWWA's Emergency Repatriation Fund under the Saving Lives pillar of the government's UPLIFT programme, the Philippine News Agency said. Another 39 OFWs were expected to arrive on 26 October, which would bring the number of repatriates and dependents assisted to 422 if they arrived as scheduled, the DMW said.

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