The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has repatriated 370 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have either been stranded in UAE while on visit visas or terminated by their employers in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, head of the Philippine mission in Dubai and its neighboring northern emirates, told reporters that the OFWs were on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 19 which left Dubai International Airport at around midnight of June 15 and arrived in Manila around 1:30pm on the same day.
“For your information, the Philippines has chartered its first government-sponsored repatriation flight from the UAE. Some 370 passengers are booked for a flight from Dubai to Manila tonight June 15 at 0010H.
“The 370 is composed of passengers from Dubai and Abu Dhabi with about 80% from Dubai,” Cortes said.
He said around a third of the OFWs were on visit visa while another third were those whose employment visa has been cancelled by their respective employers.
UAE immigration policies require those with expired visit visas to have them renewed if they want to extend their stay; on the other hand, those whose employment/resident visas have been cancelled have 30 days to either look for a new job leave.
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