First batch of OFWs from Iran arrives; more flights planned

THE Philippine government has repatriated the first group of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Iran as it prepares two chartered flights to bring home more workers from the Middle East, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said on Wednesday.

“There are two flights that we are planning,” he said at a livestreamed briefing from New York City. The first flight will operate out of Riyadh for Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. The second will depart from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to transport workers from Dubai, he added.

The Fujairah flight is scheduled for March 13, with an expected arrival in Manila later that evening or early on March 14. Mr. Marcos said the decision to charter these flights follows a slight improvement in regional safety.

“We are arranging charter flights because the situation has eased up a bit,” he said. “Now that the Emirates has deemed it safe to fly, it should be safe enough also for us to charter airplanes to accommodate other Filipinos who wish to return home.”

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac will join the Dubai flight to provide an on-the-ground assessment of conditions, Mr. Marcos added.

The government is also facilitating land crossings from the UAE, Israel and Oman. Sixteen OFWs from Israel who crossed into Egypt were expected to arrive in Manila on Wednesday evening via a chartered flight arranged by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that nine Filipinos evacuated from Iran arrived in the Philippines on March 10 and 11.

Five were minors aged 2 to 14. The repatriation was coordinated through Philippine embassies in Tehran and Ankara, Turkey, which facilitated the land crossing and onward flights amid regional tensions.

These evacuees were among 11 Filipinos moved from Iran into Van, Turkey, following coordinated US and Israeli missile strikes against Tehran’s military assets on Feb. 28.

The strikes were aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program and pursuing regime change, and reportedly resulted in the death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In retaliation, Iran launched missile and drone attacks against US and Israeli bases across Gulf states, including Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The DMW said 36 OFWs from Oman arrived safely via Oman Air flight WY843 on Wednesday. The group included 24 workers, eight dependents, and four additional OFWs from Oman and Dubai.

“The airspace in their country of origin is very limited so they found a way to cross the border to a country where they could fly, and now, they’re here,” Mr. Cacdac said in a separate statement.

Mr. Marcos noted that the Department of National Defense and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines would assist in all repatriation efforts, ensuring that distressed and affected workers are safely returned amid geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking and Adrian H. Halili