Ligtas na nakaalis ng Sudan ang tatlong Pinoy doon sa tulong ng kanilang pinagtatrabahuhan at Saudi Arabian government, ayon sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) nitong Lunes.

Ayon kay Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Concerns na si Eduardo de Vega, ang tatlong Pinoy ay empleyado ng Saudia Airlines, na na-stranded sa Sudan dahil sa bakbakan ng dalawang puwersa ng militar doon--ang Sudanese Armed Forces at Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“Saudia Airlines was stranded in Khartoum (kabisera ng Sudan), and they were brought by bus by their employers to Port Sudan where they were fetched by a military vessel provided by the Saudi Arabian government. From there, they will be taken to Jeddah where our team will meet them,” ayon kay De Vega sa public briefing.

“We thank the Saudi Arabia government, and we are also appealing to them that for our future repatriation, maybe we can board their military vessel... and it looks like they are open to the idea,” dagdag ng opisyal.

Sinabi ni De Vega na byland lang ang maaaring isagawang paglilikas sa mga Filipino mula sa Sudan dahil hindi magagamit ang mga airport sa Khartoum bunga ng nagaganap na kaguluhan.

Inaasahan ng opisyal na maisasagawa ang paglilikas ngayong Lunes. Isasakay ang mga Pinoy sa bus na nirentahan ng Philippine government sa Khartoum at maglalakbay patungong south of Egypt na tinatayang 15 oras ang biyahe.

Mula sa south of Egypt, sinabi ni De Vega na dadalhin ang mga Filipino sa Aswan International Airport, at lilipad patungong Cairo, Egypt. Mula sa Cairo, ibibiyahe ang mga Filipino sa Pilipinas.

“I will be frank. Those who want to go home and are still stuck there are not happy, and there’s even one who was abandoned by the employer na para siyang aso o pusa,” ani de Vega .

Sinabi ni De Vega na papasanin ng Philippine government ang gastusin sa evacuation at repatriation.

“Initially, we have 300 Filipinos in Sudan. Since we called on them to reach out to the embassy so we can help them, it went up to 300, then now, those registered have already increased to 696,” ani de Vega.

“There are few who are household workers, but most of the Filipinos here have high paying jobs such as teachers, engineers. They are paid well because of the dangers here,” dagdag niya.

Ayon kay De Vega, nasa 300 ng 696 Filipino ang nais nang umuwi ng Pilipinas. Kalahati sa naturang bilang ng mga nais nang umuwi ang kompleto ang dokumentasyon.

“It will take some time due to the limited supply of buses [for rental]. But we assure them that in one to two weeks, you will be repatriated and will be provided assistance,” ani de Vega.

Sinabi ng DFA wala pa silang namomonitor na Filipino na nasawi dahil sa nangyayaring kaguluhan sa Sudan.—FRJ, GMA Integrated News