63 Filipinos back from Ukraine, 136 awaiting repatriation —DFA

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday that a total of 63 Filipinos from have arrived in the Philippines from war-torn Ukraine. 

We are happy that 199 Filipinos are already out of harm's way. A total of 63 have arrived from Ukraine, and 136 are awaiting repatriation,” DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said in a mix of English and Filipino at a Laging Handa briefing.

On Monday, the DFA raised the crisis alert for all areas in Ukraine to Alert Level 4 due to the “rapidly deteriorating security situation” in the Eastern European country. 

According DFA's website, Alert Level 4 or mandatory repatriation is issued when there is "large-scale internal conflict or full-blown external attack" in a certain destination.

Arriola, however, said that there are over a hundred land-based Filipinos in Ukraine who still refuse to go home as they do not want to leave their jobs or their family there.

For sea-based Filipinos, she noted that 21 crew members of the MV S-Breeze vessel arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday, with more expected to come in the next few days.

“Doon po talaga sa iba who refused to go back home, binigyan natin sila ng financial assistance mula sa Honorary Consulate natin sa Kyiv at ‘yung presence ng ating embahada sa Lviv. ‘Yung ating seafarers, nakikipag-ugnayan ang DFA with POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) and the local manning agencies, and we’re doing everything we can para ma-extract sila,” she added.

(We are giving financial assistance through our Honorary Consulate in Kyiv and the presence of our embassy in Lviv to those who refused to go back home. For our seafarers, the DFA is coordinating with POEA and local manning agencies, and we’re doing everything we can to extract them.)

Furthermore, Arriola said the Department is also coordinating with government agencies like the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to give assistance to Filipinos who have gone back home. 

“Specially, kailangan din po nila ng stress debriefing dahil napansin po namin doon sa ibang umuwi, lalo na don sa galing sa matindi ‘yung armed conflict, medyo meron pa rin silang war shock at medyo tulala pa ‘yung ang ating mga kababayan which is understandable,” she pointed out.

(They need stress debriefing because we noticed that some of the repatriates, especially those from areas in Ukraine with intense armed confrontation, are still a bit in  a war-shock state, and understandably in trauma.) 

The Philippines earlier appealed for an immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine under Russia's invasion, and called on the parties involved to forge a peace accord. —LBG, GMA News