THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday acknowledged the difficulty of repatriating the remaining 150 to 160 Filipinos in strife-torn Sudan, especially with the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in full swing.
DFA Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Affair Paul Cortes said the number includes 30 Filipinos stranded at Port Sudan while waiting for flights out of the country. Of the 30, Cortes said nine are minors.
“Of these 150 to 160, 30 are waiting at Port Sudan to board flights to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia or Doha, Qatar but we are having a bit of difficulty booking flights due to the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia,” Cortes told the Laging Handa public briefing.
Port Sudan has been the main embarkation site for foreigners waiting to be repatriated to their countries.
Cortes said the DFA has received reports that some of the Filipino children are experiencing minor ailments.
Another challenge, the official said, is getting the required entry visas from Riyadh or Doha, coupled with the fact that some Filipinos waiting to be evacuated failed to bring with them their passports in their haste to flee their homes in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.
“It’s a little bit challenging,” Cortez said, adding consul officials are working double time to help the stranded Pinoys.
The Philippine Embassy in Cairo also exercises jurisdiction over Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
The embassy called on all Filipinos in Sudan to evacuate immediately after the United Nations warned the country is on “the brink of a full-scale civil war.”
“The Philippine Embassy in Cairo strongly reiterates its call for all Filipinos in Sudan to leave the country immediately to ensure their safety,” the embassy said in a statement, adding those who wish to return to Manila should provide the embassy with their full names, contact numbers, and copies of their passports.
The embassy said those who want to evacuate through Egypt should apply for entry visas at the Egyptian Consulate in Wadi Halfa while those who want to leave through Port Sudan should inform the embassy in advance.
The embassy also advised Filipinos to bring with them sufficient cash, if possible, to cover the cost of food, water and accommodation as the wait in both Wadi Halfa and Port Sudan will take as much as 10 days.
DFA data showed that 748 Filipinos have been repatriated from Sudan to Manila since fighting erupted last March between Army troops loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
When the DFA started the evacuation and repatriation, only 258 Filipinos had registered with the Cairo embassy but the number has steadily increased.
